The Search
by Julienne Kiel
Summary: "Who are you? What do you want from me?" she asked as she backed away from him. "Me? I just want you dead", then he lunged at her.
1. Prologue

_Thump... Thump... Thump..._

That was all that she can hear from the dark room, the loud thumping of her chest. She scanned her surrounding from what she could see under her papa's study table, trying to train her eyes to see even the slightest movement that could be her end.

 _Step... Step... Step..._

She held her breath, sweat rolling down from the side of her face. Her wide green eyes looking frantically from her hiding place for something that could save her. She could practically feel her heart bursting out of her chest.

'Please, help me... anyone...' she prayed silently.

"Where are you little girl?" hissed the intruder.

She whimpered silently. She wanted her mama and papa to be here. She prayed to the Gods for the man to just leave and not find her.

 _Step... Step... Step..._

She could hear the faint sound of the man's footstep and the opening and closing of the door that told her that the man already left. She waited still, not trusting her surroundings. After a minute of waiting, she slowly got up and made her way to the door. Trying to move silently as possible which is hard considering that she's in a dark room.

She did not notice the man hiding behind the dark shadow of the room.

She did not notice the sinister smile that crept up the man's face.

She did not notice as he slowly made his way to her.

She pressed her ear to the door and sighed in relief.

'They're gone, I'm safe, I'm-'

"Found you!"

 **-she SCREAMED.**


	2. The School

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

 **The Search**

 **CHAPTER 1**

 **The School**

''Aaaahhh!" the 16 year old woke up screaming. She gasped for air while her wide eyes scan her surroundings. She was in her bedroom, she realized. She calmed herself and slowly made her way to her dresser. She sat down and faced the mirror.

"It's just a dream" she told herself.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and slapped herself repeatedly. She looked at the clock beside her bed to know the time.

5:14 am

"It's still too early, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep after that" she said, talking to herself.

She stood up and went out of her room, she went straight to the kitchen to prepare for her breakfast. She looked inside the fridge and settled for a ramen. After cooking, she sat down and stared blankly off to space, the steaming ramen forgotten in front of her.

The girl's name is Haruno Sakura, a 16-year old student of Konoha High. She is an average looking girl, except for her green, green eyes and long pink hair that reaches the small of her back. She is one of the few intelligent students of Konoha High. But she isn't one of the popular kids in school despite her intelligence. She does not want to stand out and likes to keep everything to herself.

She snapped herself back to reality. She looked at the no longer steaming ramen in front of her. She started to eat only to spit everything back out.

"Ugh, this makes me lose my appetite." She threw the cold ramen in the trash and started to prepare for school.

* * *

Konoha High is a Private School, but not everyone is rich. Some students get in because of scholarship. Nobody cares if one is in scholarship, though. Maybe just a few, and those few are the really rich ones or maybe the social climbers.

* * *

Sakura walked to school alone, humming silently. She went straight to her classroom and sat at the back, beside the window. She put out her phone and texted her friend Ino.

 **To: Ino-pig**

 **'Hey pig, you on your way to school yet?'**

 **From: Sakura**

Her phone vibrated, signalling a new message.

 **To: Sakura**

 **'What forehead? its too early! School starts at 8:00!'**

 **From: Ino-pig, 6:15 am**

She quickly replied back,

 **To: Ino-pig**

 **'Well, Im here already, hurry up come already!'**

 **From: Sakura, 6: 18 am**

She decided to check her notes to see if she missed any homework. None. She looked at her watch.

6:40 am

She sat quietly and waited for her friends to come, while drawing in her notebook.

 _Step... Step... Step..._

'Hm? Someone is coming? Must be Ino...' Sakura thought.

The classroom door opened, and the person came in.

"Took you long enough PIG!" Sakura did not look up from what she is doing.

Silence met her greeting. Sakura did not mind though, she was too busy drawing in her notebook.

"Hey pig, what time will you be at the cafe later? I'll be there until 11:00 pm, could you drive me home?"

Again, no answer.

"Pig?" Sakura looked up from what she was doing, and saw a tall, handsome guy standing at the door. He was looking at her weirdly.

"Oh, Uchiha-san, good morning" Sakura said. He just nodded at her. She can't think of anything else to say, so she just shut her mouth and went back to drawing.

Uchiha Sasuke. One of the richest kids in school. He is the Captain of the Basketball Team, and he has good looks too. The girls are in love with him, though he doesn't pay any attention to them. He was even rumoured to be gay, because he is always seen with his bestfriend (or boyfriend?) Naruto.

Though she wasn't looking, she could feel his gaze on her.

'What the heck is his problem?'

She stopped drawing and put her head on her arms and pretended to sleep.

Soon after, their classmates came, and so did the friends of Sakura.

"Hey Forehead! What are you doing to school at so early in the morning?" Ino asked.

Yamanaka Ino. Sakura's Best Friend. She protected Sakura from bullies when they were young and since then they were inseparable. Her family owns a flower shop and a cafe. The Sweet Cafe. Where Sakura works after school and where she gets money for a living. Ino also works there, she says she wanted to wear the cute, girly uniforms.

"I was awake early, so I decided to just come to school." she said simply.

"Isn't Uchiha-san early to school too?" Hinata said.

Hyuuga Hinata. One of Sakura's close friends. She is one of the richest kids too, but she is not like other students who are snobs. Hinata is a kind, and a loving friend, she is the one to mediate when her friends are getting in a fight. She's very pretty too.

"Yeah, he was here too. I even spoke to him." Sakura said.

"What? You had a conversation with Uchiha Sasuke?!" Ino exclaimed. Some students turned their heads to the girls' table.

"Pig! Not too loud! Are you that hungry of attention?" Sakura said, while she snuck a look at Uchiha-san's table. Thankfully, they do not seem to have heard Ino's loud voice.

"Yeah Ino, keep it down!" Tenten said.

Tenten. Also Sakura's close friend. Her family owns a weapon shop in Konoha, she acts like a boy and would get into a fight with everyone who bullies her friends. Though she has a family business, she still works at the cafe that the Yamanakas own.

"Shut up, forehead! So, spill!"

"Well-" Sakura was cut off when their teacher arrived.

"Good Morning, turn your books to page 48..."

* * *

RRiiingggggg!

Sakura quickly got out of the painting room and made her way to the cafeteria. She saw her friends and moved to their way.

"Ugh, I really can't make a decent art work!" she said while taking out her packed lunch. She started to eat.

"True. I really suck in painting too. Only Yamazaki-sensei can" Tenten said.

"Sai too! He's really good and very good looking" Ino said.

"I thought you like Uchiha-san?" Hinata asked.

"I also like Sai, there's nothing wrong with liking two guys at a time, maybe even three." Ino said, looking at the table at the center of the cafeteria, where the rich and popular kids sit.

"Who are you looking at pig?" Sakura said, looking at the direction Ino was looking at.

"Huh? Oh, nobody!" Ino said while shaking her head profusely.

"Hey Ino, could you give me a ride later? After work?" Sakura asked her friend who was busily eating while sneaking glances at _someone._

"Huh? Oh, sorry forehead, I won't be at the cafe later. I'll be helping my mom at the flower shop, we have a huge event coming up. How about you Tenten? Maybe you could give forehead a ride?" Ino explained.

"It's Wednesday, I have Karate practice and it's my off today." Tenten answered. She apologetically smiled at Sakura.

"No, it's fine. I'll just walk home. It will give me time to think" Sakura said.

The bell rang and they went to their separate classes.

* * *

"Sakura, table 5!" Choji, the cook, shouted. It was already past 6 in the afternoon and Sakura was busily waiting tables at 'The Sweet Cafe'. She nodded at Choji and made her way to the table, where an elderly couple sat, and delivered the food.

The cafe's door opened and two girls came in. Sakura studied them and she realized that they are wearing the same uniform from her school.

'Oh, the snobs from school' Sakura thought to herself while she was looking at the girls.

"What the heck is this place? Some cheap cafe?" asked Ami to no one in particular, looking really disgusted despite the nice ambiance of the cafe.

"This is owned by the Yamanakas, their daughter attends our school, and I don't care about how it looks. I'm really hungry right now and I just need something to eat." Another girl answered, while looking at the menu.

"Whatever Naoko, just hurry up!" Ami said, while waiting impatiently.

Sakura overheard the two talking as she waited tables. She just wished that this day is already over. She let out a long sigh as she went back to work.

* * *

"I'm going!" Sakura shouted to the others as she left the cafe. It was quarter past eleven in the evening and there were only few people in the street. She walked silently. It was only a 20 minute walk to her house. Sakura isn't afraid of walking alone at night, Konoha was a peaceful place, all thanks to the Head of the Police. Though, there are some days when drunkards who couldn't control themselves get wild when they have too much drink.

Unfortunately for Sakura, this day is one of them.

As she was nearing the end of the street, she could make out a silhouette of a man who was leaning on a lamp post. Sakura silently walked past the man, wishing silently that he won't create a ruckus. She sighed in relief when she got across the street without anything happening.

Sadly, her relief was short-lived.

She felt a pain in her right wrist when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. She looked at the man behind her and recognized the drunkard from before.

"Heeeey, little missssy" the man groggily said to her. He was drunk but was still strong.

"Let go of me" Sakura said calmly, though inside her heart was pounding really hard. She had to understand that the man isn't in his right mind at the moment.

"Don't youuu waaant to have fuun?" the man persisted, as he tugged Sakura closer. She could smell the strong alcohol in his breath. She was getting really scared, she needed to be away from this man.

'Please, help me... anyone...' she prayed silently. Her eyes widened when she remembered her dream. She was now more scared than she was before.

"Hey! What's going on there?!" someone shouted. Sakura regained her senses and broke free of the man's hold and ran away without looking back.

She was running really fast, she could see the corner where she would make her turn. She turned at the corner.

It was too late to see the headlights coming her way.

 **BEEP—BEEP-**

Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the impact.

The sound of squeaking tires could be heard in the silence of the night.

And the car crashed.

* * *

 **Hello! It's my first time writing a story so I don't really expect reviews. But if you would like to critique, please do so, but keep it light.**

 **I'm actually afraid of posting this chapter because it's boring and has a slow-pacing. I don't know why I decided to write this, but please be good to me. I'm new here. Thank You!**

 **Julienne Kiel**


	3. The Near-Death Experience

**The Near-Death Experience**

 **CHAPTER 2  
**

 **Ring... Ring..**

"Do you have good news?" the man said as he answered his phone.

"None yet sir. But-"

"Then why are you calling me?!" The man barked at the phone.

"Sir, I have reasons to believe that the girl is in Konoha."

"Konoha?"

"Yes, sir. That is the problem sir, Konoha's Head Police is Uchiha Fugaku, it's hard to-"

"That's no longer my problem! I pay you to do your job! Or do you want to face the consequences?" the man maliciously hissed.

"No sir! I'll look for the girl!"

The man ended the call and smiled to himself.

"Soon little girl, we will meet again, soon."

* * *

Sasuke was not having a good day. The 16 year-old was awake early because his mother, who was to go to US because of a Fashion Week, came barging inside his room and forcing him to come with her and see her plane off since his father nor his brother Itachi cannot go.

So he was at school at such an early morning walking alone in the hallway as he makes his way to his room. He opened the door and was surprised to see another person inside.

'The pink-haired scholar girl' he thought to himself.

"Took you long enough PIG!" the girl said.

'Huh? Was she talking to him? Did he really look that bad in the morning that he resembles a pig?'

"Hey pig, what time will you be at the cafe later? I'll be there until 11:00 pm, could you drive me home?" she continued.

'Oh, she mistook me for someone else, should I tell her?' Sasuke mused.

"Pig?" she finally looked up. He looked at her weirdly, he was actually amused at her but he didn't show it. He was Uchiha Sasuke of course.

"Oh, Uchiha-san, good morning" she told him, he nodded in response, then she went back to whatever it is that she was doing.

He went to his chair and sat down, looking at the scholar. He studied the girl, not finding anything interesting. He even thinks that the girl is boring.

'Of course she's a nerd, she even got a scholarship in this school' he told himself.

He stopped looking at the girl and instead he got placed his arms on his desk, laid his head and closed his eyes to sleep.

* * *

"Teme!" Naruto yelled at him during lunch. They were at the center of the cafeteria, their usual spot. He was sitting with his friends and some from the Basketball Team. Neji, Shikamaru, Sai, Suigetsu, and Kiba were there.

"What dobe?" he was annoyed. His bestfriend talks as if he swallowed a mega phone.

"What were you early today?" Naruto asked. The whole table ceased their conversation, all interested in Sasuke's reason. Sasuke isn't the type of person to come to school early. Especially today, since they had attended a party at Naruto's house the night before. They went home by midnight so it was a surprise for the whole gang to find Sasuke in the room this morning.

"None of our business" he said, he wasn't in the mood to tell stories. He could feel a severe headache coming.

'Must be from my lack of sleep or maybe Naruto's voice' Sasuke thought.

"What?! I oughta—" Naruto started but was cut off by the bell.

 **Rringgggg!**

Sasuke left without waiting for his friends and went straight to his class. Naruto calling his name and running after him while the rest followed suit.

* * *

It was half past 11 and Sasuke was driving his car to his house, he was hanging out at a bar with his friends. He really wanted to reach his house and sleep in his comfy bed. He increased his speed since the street is almost deserted.

He could almost feel his eyelids start to close when all of a sudden, a figure turned from a corner. He was suddenly awake and turned the wheel to the side to avoid the person. He crashed to the side of the road where the trash bins were. Luckily he wasn't hurt nor was his car damaged. He looked outside the car and saw the girl still standing there. He recognized her as the scholar girl. Haruno Sakura.

Sakura opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. She was wondering why she is still standing, she could have sworn that she heard the car crash. But nothing happened to her, she was still standing the same spot where she stopped.

Not too far away from her is the car, crashed into the trash bins at the side of the street.

She stayed rooted at the spot while she watched the door of the expensive car open to show its driver. A tall man revealed himself. Sakura looked at the man and recognized him. The popular Basketball Captain, Uchiha Sasuke.

The man approached her and asked her worriedly.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He assessed her and realized she wasn't hurt. Soon, his anger sets in.

"What the hell were you doing? Do you want to die?!" Sasuke bellowed. He was afraid because he had almost killed the girl. And he was even more annoyed because the girl looked as if she hadn't been in a near death experience.

"Obviously, I was running away from someone and no, I don't want to die yet." Sakura calmly said. She didn't want to show him how scared she was, she has always hated his guts and she would never show him how weak she feels right now.

"You crazy woman, I could have killed you!" Sasuke yelled.

"You didn't," Sakura replied, "and if you did then your Father will send you to prison. You'll get to see him more often then, I'm actually doing you a favor." Sakura sarcastically said. She started to turn away from him. She just wanted to sleep, and Uchiha, for the first time, was actually paying attention to her.

'Yeah, way to get his attention, maybe I'll tell Ino-pig to jump in front of his moving car for him to finally notice her.' Sakura said to herself.

"Hey, where are you going?" He cursed when she ignored him, he only watched as her figure disappeared in the dark streets of Konoha. He cursed again and got in his car and drove home.

* * *

Sakura was in school, pretending that she was listening to the discussion but in truth she was slowly falling to dreamland. She cannot concentrate well, Ino, who was sitting beside her was looking at her worriedly.

"Ms. Haruno, would you like to answer the question?" the teacher asked.

 **Rringgggg!**

Saved by the bell, Sakura excused herself from her friends and went to the infirmary. Shizune, the nurse, was there.

"Sakura? What's wrong?" Shizune asked, noticing the girl's distress.

"I have a headache, Shizune-san, may I stay for a little while?" Sakura said, while she was holding at her forehead. Her head hurts.

"Of course Sakura" Shizune said, while guiding Sakura to a nearby bed. Sakura kaid down and closed her eyes, soon enough she was asleep.

* * *

"Class dismissed!" Gai-sensei said.

Sasuke stood up from his table and walked to the door only to be stopped by Gai.

"Uchiha, here are the forms of the players in the basketball team. Deliver this to the nurse for the schedule of the check-up." Sasuke received the papers and made his way to the infirmary. The girls were swooning as he passed them, he almost rolled his eyes for their immaturity.

'How annoying' he thought.

He reached the infirmary and knocked at the door. He opened it when no one answered. He looked for the school nurse but only found the girl he almost hit with his car sleeping inside. He went to her side and looked at when she suddenly opened her eyes and stared back at him.

Sasuke swiftly moved back, pretending that he wasn't looking.

"Is the nurse here?" Sasuke asked the girl.

"Huh?" Sakura was confused, he was calmly talking to her now? Was she still asleep?

"The nurse, Shizune, where is she?" Sasuke repeated as if talking to a child. He was looking at her weirdly again.

"I just woke up, why are you asking me? Wasn't she here when you arrived?" Sakura said, annoyed that he was talking to her like a kid.

"If she was then I wouldn't be asking you of her whereabouts." Sasuke said.

"Well, I don't know where she is! If you have some business with her, then go ahead and look for her, stop bothering me!" Sakura exclaimed turning her back on him.

Sasuke almost laughed at her attitude. He was amused at the girl. He then noticed the girl's right wrist, it was bruised.

"Hey, what happened to your wrist?" Sasuke said to her back.

"What?" Sakura has no idea why he was asking about her wrist, she looked at it and saw the bruise that the iron grip the man had on her the night before. "Oh, I didn't know that his grip would bruise me." Sakura said to herself mostly, completely forgetting that Sasuke was in the room with her. Sasuke heard her, though.

"You really are an accident prone, aren't you?" Sasuke asked.

"Hey, will you please stop asking me about my life? You are so weird, suddenly talking to me as if we're friends. Are you possessed?" Sakura said to him, she was really getting annoyed, she wants to go back to sleep, so she closed her eyes and ignored him.

Sasuke sighed, he looked at the medicine cabinet and got an ointment for bruises. Just when he was showing his nice side, he was being ignored. It was his way of apologizing for almost killing her the other night, it was partly his fault anyway. He was almost sleeping while driving. He went back to Sakura's side and left the ointment beside her bed and left the room.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes when she heard that he has already left the room. She was surprised to see the ointment beside her bed. She narrowed her eyes at it, thinking that this is a joke. She looked around the infirmary, making sure that the Uchiha has already left before getting the ointment. She inspected it and carefully put a little amount on her bruises. And then she went back to sleeping, a little smile on her face.

* * *

"I have to go ahead, I promised my mom to deliver a package to Yamanaka-san at the cafe down the street." Shikamaru said to the gang. They were already heading home after their basketball practice when Kiba invited them to a bar.

Sasuke nodded approvingly at Shikamaru, he did not want to go on a bar today, he might get drunk again.

"Hey, we went to school with Shikamaru, right? He drove us with his car. So that means we will accompany him at this cafe?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Of course dumbass, that is if you don't want to walk from here to your house." Sasuke answered, as he and Naruto made way to Shikamaru's car.

"Hey Shika, why don't we try the food there?" Naruto started his non-stop talk again and Shikamaru could only sigh as he drove to the cafe that the Yamanakas own. The Sweet Cafe.

* * *

Sakura was in the cafe again, waiting tables. Ino and Tenten were there too. The door opened and Sakura heard Ino gasped dramatically not too far away from her. She was looking at the entrance of the cafe, Sakura ignored Ino, thinking that it may be another good-looking customer that caught her bestfriend's attention. Nothing new there.

When she realized that Ino stood rooted on her spot, and Tenten was too far away to attend to the table of the new comers then she decided to do it herself. She looked at the customers and was surprised to see Uchiha, Uzumaki and Nara sitting at the table, waiting for their orders to be taken.

"May I take your orders?" she asked politely. Naruto was surprised to see her, Shikamaru looked bored while Sasuke looked indifferent.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto said.

'Sakura-chan? were not even close, what is with this rich people suddenly making themselves known in my life?' Sakura thought as she gave a small smile to Naruto. He then looked at the menu and gave her their orders.

"Hey, is Ino around? Could you give this to her, it's from my mom." Shikamaru said as he handed the package to Sakura. Sakura nodded and left their table. Shegave the order to Choji and went to the staff room. Inside, Ino was screaming her head off.

"I can't believe this, I can't believe this, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! UCHIHA SASUKE IS HERE!"

"Oi pig, shut up and calm down. Nara-san told me to give this to you." Sakura gave Ino the package, but she noticed a barely visible tint of red on her cheeks when she received the box. Ino quickly scanned the writings in the package and realized that it wasn't for her but for her mother.

"You look disappointed pig, do you like Nara-san?" Sakura said.

"What? That Lazy-ass?! No way! I like Sasuke!" Ino shouted.

"Shut up Ino! I could hear you from outside, I wouldn't even be surprised if the customers heard you as well. Especially that lazy-ass that you talked about!" Tenten said as she entered the staff room.

"What?! I won't be able to go out now! Sakura, quick! Give them their order and make them leave!" Ino said, pushing Sakura out of the staff room. Sakura looked blankly at the door that was slammed in her face and she sighed.

"Hey Sakura, table 7!" Choji called, Sakura got the food and delivered it to the Uchiha's table.

"Here's your order, sir." Sakura said, sadly she was being ignored. Shikamaru was dozing off at the table, Naruto was busily talking to someone over the phone, while Sasuke was just... Sasuke. She placed the orders on the table.

"Enjoy your meal." She turned her back and didn't notice Sasuke's lingering look on her.

* * *

"Sir? There were reports from our intel from Suna that someone was asking about **_her_**." a man said to Uchiha Fugaku. Fugaku was leaning on his chair inside his office while the man delivers his report.

"Very well. You are dismissed." The man gave a salute to Fugaku and left the office. Fugaku was left thinking about the situation.

'They are now looking for **_her_** , I need to increase the security in Konoha if ever they started searching here.'

Fugaku dialled a number in his phone.

Ring... Ring...

"Hello?"

"Hey, I want you to do something..." Fugaku said.

* * *

 **Hello, I would like to apologize for the slow development in the story. and the relationship of Sakura and Sasuke. I would also like to apologize in advance because I don't know how to write Sweet and Cute interactions between the two.**

 **That's all!**

 **Julienne Kiel**


	4. The Grave

**CHAPTER 3**

It started as a normal Friday for Sakura, she attended her classes with her friends, ate lunch at the cafeteria and answered Teacher's questions as always. Nothing eventful happened to her in school so she was expecting the same when she went to her work. But it wasn't.

There were many customers inside the cafe, so Sakura, Ino and Tenten were running back and forth to get orders. The other workers, Shino and Lee were also busy in delivering the orders.

Sakura just finished her break when the entrance of the cafe opened. The snobs from two days ago were back. Ami and Naoko. They sat at a nearby table and waited for their orders to be taken. And since Sakura was the nearest waitress from the table, she did the honor.

"May I take your orders?" she politely asked, sadly she was ignored.

"I heard Uchiha Sasuke went to this cafe yesterday! I don't know why he bothers himself with cheap cafes like this but who cares? I want to see him here!" Ami said delightedly. Totally ignoring Sakura who is waiting beside the table.

"Yes, we're really lucky if he comes here tonight. Who knows, we could ask him to join us!" Naoko said, giggling like a total fan girl. She was looking at her pocket mirror, checking her make-up and her.

Sakura cleared her throat and both girls turned to look at her, both were glaring daggers.

"Is there anything you need?" Ami snottily asked, she didn't want to be interrupted by some cheap waitress when she's admiring herself.

"Your orders ma'am" Sakura said.

"As if we'd want anything from this low-class cafe! We don't want to die yet, your menu looks contaminated anyway!" Ami said obnoxiously.

"You mean your face looks contaminated" Sakura whispered while turning to the side, she almost rolled her eyes at these snobs from school.

"What? Were you saying something?" Naoko asked Sakura. Sakura immediately gave her most fake smile to the two.

"I said I'll serve you lovely ladies a glass of water." Sakura said and excused herself. She really hated these stuck-up people who think they are the only important beings on earth. She was mumbling to herself as she picked two glasses and filled it with water. She then, heard a squeal from the direction of Ami's table, they were looking at some new comers at the cafe. She looked at the entrance and was greatly surprised to see Sasuke and Naruto back at the cafe. They looked for a place to sit and found a table next to Ami's.

She made her way to Ami's table.

Ami was openly looking at Sasuke, willing him to look at her but he was looking past her, when she looked behind her, she saw Sakura walking to their table. She glared disdainfully at Sakura but smiled sweetly when Sakura reached their table.

Sakura was looking weirdly at Ami who was smiling up at her.

'Is she bipolar or something?' Sakura thought while putting down the glasses of water in front of the two girls.

"Would you like to order now?" She asked, but she was distracted by Naruto's loud shout of "TEME!" next the table that she looked over at them. She did not see Ami's evil smile directed at her and the next thing she knew, cold water was soaking through her uniform. She then looked at the now empty glass that Ami is holding.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't notice you! If you weren't busy ogling guys then you would have been able to move away" Ami said to Sakura. "Here, use my hanky" Ami gave her hanky to Sakura to wipe herself, because Sakura refused to take it, Ami herself wiped Sakura's uniform.

"Don't bother returning the hanky, it's just a dirty rag for me now" Ami said, taunting Sakura. She then smirked. "What the hell are you still waiting for? Why don't you get a mop and wipe the water on the floor? Isn't that your job? You low-life!" Ami loudly said. The whole scene is being watched by the customers from nearby tables.

Tenten and Ino saw the whole thing. Ino was about to come and give Ami a piece of her mind but she was stopped by Tenten.

"What are you doing?! Let go of me and I will show that girl not to mess with us!" Ino struggled from Tenten's grip.

Tenten was looking at the scene and wanted to go and punch Ami herself but she knows that Sakura can handle this.

"Sshhh! Just let Sakura do her thing" she said to Ino while looking at Sakura. She can see from her body language that she won't let this incident pass.

Sakura was steaming. She willed herself to calm down, she did not want to cause trouble for the Yamanakas but what Ami did was really insulting. And that doesn't mean that she would let the girl go without getting revenge.

"I'm sorry, I will get you a fresh glass of water" Sakura said. She went to the counter and filled a pitcher with Ice cold water and made her way back to Ami's table, who was now chatting and laughing animatedly with Naoko. Shino was kind enough to mop the floor beside the table.

'Sorry for what I'm about to do, Shino' Sakura thought.

Sakura reached their table and purposely bumped Ami's hand and spilled the pitcher of water on Ami's head.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ami shrieked, standing up in the process. Her whole body was soaked with water. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU STUPID WAITRESS?!" Ami was screaming while pointing a finger at Sakura. Her friend Naoko was shocked and was not able to do a thing.

Sakura was unaffected by Ami's behaviour. She could even hear some laugh beside her. _'Probably Naruto',_ And Ino's cheer from behind her. She smiled apologetically at Ami.

"I'm sorry, but you were chatting with your friend animatedly and you accidentally hit the pitcher while I was about to put it on your table." Sakura said.

Ami was fuming. She was about to lunge at Sakura when she overheard the conversations from the nearby tables.

"Yeah, I saw that too, she hit the pitcher with her hand!"

"She shouldn't blame that nice girl, it was her fault anyway."

"And earlier, I also saw what she did to the waitress, she did it on purpose!"

"Hey, Isn't she a daughter of a businessman?"

"Oh yeah! Who would've thought that a high class person like her has a bad attitude problem?"

Ami widened her eyes at that. She knows that her father would ground her if his name was dragged into this incident. She quickly got her bag and ran away from the cafe, with Naoko running after her. Some of the customers clapped while the others cheered.

Sakura was looking at the door where the two exited when she heard someone speak.

"Oi, why don't you change your clothes? You'll catch a cold if you don't." It was Sasuke. He removed his blazer and threw it at her. Sakura swiftly caught it, because of what happened, she failed to notice that her uniform turned see-through. She wore the blazer and her eyebrows raised at the sudden friendliness of the Uchiha. Naruto had his mouth hanging because of the scene playing in front of him. Who knew that an Uchiha could be this nice?

"Thank you" Sakura said and turned to leave but not without apologetically bowing to Shino who resumed mopping the floor with a barely visible smile on his face, while shaking his head.

* * *

Sakura was changing to her school uniform when a squealing Ino and an annoyed looking Tenten went inside the staff room.

"Hey Sakura, would you please tell your friend to shut up?" Tenten said to Sakura while covering her ears. Ino ignored Tenten and grabbed the blazer of Uchiha Sasuke from the disregarded clothes on the floor.

"What are you doing Sakura?! How could you be so mean to such a treasure?!" Ino said pertaining to Sasuke's cloth. She was hugging the cloth with hearts on her eyes. "This really is a very interesting day, first, you stood up to that stupid, annoying rich girl in school, and second, Uchiha Sasuke lent you his blazer! OH MY GOSH! I wish I was in your place!" Ino started squealing again.

"If you were in my place, you would have done worst to Ami, like bang her head on the table, and Uchiha Sasuke would probably laugh his head off because of how unbecoming that is of a cafe heiress." Sakura explained to Ino. She really doesn't care about how Sasuke shows a little emotion. She just wanted him off her back. But it's not happening.

"And I don't think he'll care if he sees you fighting Ami." Tenten added.

"Anyway, you may go now Sakura, I know you're tired after that display" Ino said when she saw that Sakura looks tired.

"Thanks Pig, and since you want to talk to him that much, why don't you return that to him?" Sakura suggested, she wanted to go home. "Pig, I'll go ahead okay? I'll just use the back door."

Tenten and Ino waved as Sakura moved towards the door and out of the cafe.

* * *

"Man, that was cool! It's like watching an action movie!" Naruto exclaimed, he suddenly remembered something, "Hey Teme, are you prepared for the Basketball game next week? " Naruto asked Sasuke. After the event earlier, he could see that Sasuke is bothered with something, and he kept on looking at the door where the waitresses have gone through.

"Teme?" Naruto was being ignored.

"Good Evening sir, My friend would like to thank you for lending her your blazer." Ino said when she approached the table of the two guys. She extended her arm and handed the cloth to Sasuke.

"Where is Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"She already left, sir." Ino answered. "Anyway, enjoy your meal." Ino said as she left their table. Sasuke was still not saying anything. Naruto was looking at him, uncomfortable with the silence. Naruto was about to ask again when Sasuke suddenly stood up.

"I'm leaving" and with that, he left. Naruto was staring at the door where Sasuke disappeared. When he suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Teme! How am I supposed to go home?!" Naruto shouted, ignoring the looks of the other customers as he tried to catch up to Sasuke.

* * *

A week has passed, Sakura still goes to school and work. Nothing eventful happened except for Ino deciding that she is no longer crushing on Sasuke. Speaking of Sasuke, after the event a week ago, Sasuke no longer goes to their cafe.

Sasuke, in his part, was busy in preparing his players for the Basketball Event this Saturday with the Suna players.

It was Friday night, Sakura just got off from work and was walking alone in the almost deserted streets if Konoha. She was thinking of her visit to her parents tomorrow.

 _"Pig, can I have a day off tomorrow?"_

 _"Why forehead? It's a weekend! People will crowd this place!" Ino said._

 _"I will visit my parents." Sakura explained. She saw Ino stop and realization came to her._

 _"Oh, why didn't you say so?! Go ahead and have a day off, forehead! Be back on Monday!"_

Sakura smiled at Ino's reaction. She was in deep thought that she did not notice that she was the only one walking at the streets. She still has to walk for 10 minutes to reach her house.

 _Step... Step... Step..._

Sakura was suddenly aware of her surroundings. She didn't want a repeat of what happened with the drunkard a week ago.

Was that her?

She stopped walking and trained her ears, she could no longer hear the steps. She sighed in relief, she was scaring herself.

'I'm being paranoid'

She resumed her walk, wanting to reach her house already. She looked at her watch, it was already 11:18 pm, she needed to prepare her things for her travel tomorrow. She was so caught up with her thoughts that she almost walked past her apartment. She silently scolded herself for being absent-minded and went up to her front door. As she disappeared through the door, she did not notice a pair of eyes that followed her every move.

* * *

"SHS! SHS!" The crowd screamed. It was a hot Saturday afternoon in Suna where the Konoha High School and Suna High School are battling for a spot in Interschool Basketball League semi-finals.

Sasuke and his teammates were planning for their defense against Suna players. It was the last quarter and there were only less than 2 minutes remaining.

"Naruto, this is your position, when you get the ball, pass it to Neji!" Gai said.

"Sasuke, guard Subaku!"

"Okay Coach!" Sasuke answered.

The game started again. Naruto has the ball, he threw it to Neji who dribbled it and passed to Kiba. Kiba aimed for the ring and released the ball. It went in, 3 points for Konoha.

"2 more points!" Sasuke shouted. The game continued and it ended with the score 78-82, in favor of Konoha.

Sasuke was resting by the bleachers as he was congratulated by the cheerleaders and his teammates.

"Nice game, captain!" Sasuke only gives a nod as a reply.

"Hey why don't we celebrate? I heard there are good restaurants here in Suna." Kiba said, the others agreed to that. And soon enough, they are looking for a good place to eat. As they were passing by some stores Sasuke caught sight of pink.

'Is that-?'

He separated from the group and followed the girl whom he thought as Sakura. He kept his distance though. And followed the path that the girl took.

* * *

Sakura passed by the market and bought flowers for her parents. It had been too long since she last visited them. She decided to walk because it isn't that far away from the market. And soon enough, she reached her destination. She stood in front of her parents.

"Hello Mama, Papa. It has been a long time since I last visited right? I'm sorry I couldn't visit you when I turned 16. I was busy with work and school. Here I brought you flowers." Sakura said as she placed the flowers in front of her parents' gravestones.

 ** _Haruno Mebuki_**

 ** _1970-1999_**

 ** _Haruno Kizashi_**

 ** _1967-1999_**

"I think I made a new enemy last week. Her name is Ami, she's one of my rich classmates. I don't think she remembers me, because she hasn't done anything to me at school. Not that I look forward to it." Sakura said as she sat in front of the grave, she pulled out a sandwich from her bag and started eating.

"And Ino, do you remember her? She's still loud but she really is a true friend. Tenten and Hinata are, too." Sakura continued, she did not notice as someone walks up behind her.

"And there's this guy named Uzumaki Naruto, he's really loud too. And he calls me 'Sakura-chan', I wouldn't mind really if we were friends, but we're not!" The figure is not towering behind Sakura as she continues her story.

"And his best friend, named Uchiha! I really think that guy is the most arrogant human being in the world! I don't understand him! He acts as if he owns the whole school! I mean, I know that his family is one of the major stockholders in school but did he really have to show up everywhere near me? I was in a fight with that girl Ami because of him, or so I think. Um, okay I'm not sure. It's wrong to blame him right? Who knows, maybe Ami really is crazy. That is what spoiled brats are. Sorry Mama, Papa." Sakura said after her long speech.

"But seriously, if he was here he would have said-" Sakura was cut-off as Sasuke decided to make his presence known.

"I would have said that what your daughter said is true, well, most of it." Sasuke said.

"EEEPPPP! How long have you been standing there?! Don't you know that it's rude to listen to a private conversation?! How much have you heard?! Oh my Gosh, you're going to get me kicked out of school because of what I said?! What is this?! Did you follow me? What are doing in Suna?! Don't tell me you realized your unrequited love with Naruto and so you decided to move far away from him!" Sakura screamed at him, she was literally red in the face before she clamped her hands on her mouth.

 _'Me and my big mouth!'_

Sasuke was amused with this. He was annoyed at her description of him at first, but seeing her flustered made him forget his annoyance. He then remembered what she said.

 _'Unrequited what?'_

"Did you just imply that I am gay?" Sasuke asked, looking annoyed again.

 _'Why did I say that? Now I will really lose my scholarship! I need to apologize, NOW!'_

"I'm sorry, that wasn't what I said! I mean, it was the other way around! You're here in Suna because you want to get away from Naruto who is so in love with you?" Sakura tried, but Sasuke does not believe her.

"Anyway, to answer your questions, I'm here because of the Basketball game against Suna earlier which we won, by the way. And I happen to see you while the whole team was looking for a place to eat. So I followed you." Sasuke explained.

'Hm, he did not deny my implication about his relationship with Naruto, so he really is gay? Ino would be heartbroken if she finds out' Sakura thought, then she realized that they were still in front of her parents graves.

"Oh, Mama, Papa, this is Uchiha. He was the one I was telling you about earlier." she introduced. "Anyway, I have to go, I need to catch the last train to Konoha. I'll visit you again. Promise." And with that, Sakura turned away, Sasuke following close behind her.

"Oi, were you from here before?" Sasuke asked.

"Why the sudden interest Uchiha?" Sakura answered.

"I want to get to know you better." Sasuke replied. Sakura did not believe him though, who would want to get to know a scholar like her. But those words had some effect on Sakura, but she did not want to entertain it.

"Get to know me better? There are a number of crazy students who would kill to hear those words come out from your mouth. Unfortunately for you, I'm not one of them. So why don't you just let me be? Be the type of guy that everyone believes you to be. The brooding, cold-hearted, insensitive popular guy!" Sakura angrily said, Sasuke ignored what she said.

"I was just asking, hey, you could lose your scholarship if you don't treat me nicely, you know?" Sakura stopped in her tracks when she heard that. She could not lose her scholarship, not because of him.

"I'm sorry, I was just kidding, Uchiha- ** _sama"_** Sakura said, stressing the honorific.

"Tsk, stop that, you really are annoying, aren't you?" Sasuke then pulled Sakura and started dragging her to the train station.

"Hey, what are you doing? I can walk by myself!" Sakura huffed at Sasuke, trying to get out of his grip. Sasuke looked back at her and smirked.

"You said you wanted to catch the last train right? And I thought I told you to be nice? Unless you want to lose the scholarship." Sasuke said before turning his head. Sakura glared at the back of his head as she let herself be dragged away.

Both did not realize that they were being watched from a distance.

* * *

 **I purposely did not give Ami a surname, because based on Narutowiki, she was not given a surname and was just called Ami.**

 **Julienne Kiel**


	5. The Stalker

**CHAPTER 4**

Ever since that day in Suna, Sasuke would always be seen looking at Sakura whenever he had the chance; that was a week ago. The ever oblivious Sakura would just go to school, to work and get home without bothering herself with the rich kids from school. Even Ami, who she thinks has no idea that they go to the same school still.

It was Saturday, Sakura was on her way to the grocery store. She was almost at her destination when she bumped into a man with a cap on. She could clearly see his face because he was looking downward.

"Oh, I'm sorry mister." Sakura apologized to the man. She did not hear him reply but he just nodded his head at her and left, she did not turn her eyes away from him until he turned to the corner.

 _'Weird'_ Sakura thought as she entered the grocery store. She started with the meat section, she just received her salary and she wanted to cook something special for today. She was already at the vegetables when she felt as if someone is looking at her. At the corner of her eye, she could make out a figure of a person at her far right, but when she looked at that direction, it was gone.

 _'Must be my imagination'_ she thought again. She looked around the store, the other customers are busy buying their stuff, and she has not seen anyone looking at her direction. She shook the feeling off and continued what she was doing. But the feeling isn't going away, she was starting to get freaked out. She looked behind her, there was nothing. She turned her head in front of her and she almost screamed when she saw the figure a few feet away from her.

She looked at the familiar figure of a boy who keeps on appearing everywhere she is. She becomes annoyed with this. And she let it show in her face.

"Hey scholar, what are you doing?" Sasuke said, ignoring Sakura's annoyed look.

"What does it look like I'm doing? What do people do at grocery stores? And why were you following me?! You really re weird, if you have shown yourself earlier then I wouldn't have panicked!" Sakura shouted at him.

"What? I just arrived, was someone bothering you?" Sasuke was confused, the girl looked slightly scared. Whoever scaring her is doing a great job at it.

"What?" Sakura was even more scared at Sasuke's revelation.

 _'If it wasn't him, then who is it?'_ Sakura looked around again, trying to look for anyone suspicious. Sasuke who was standing near her also looked around the store.

"Hey, maybe you're just being paranoid. I mean, who would want to look at you? There isn't anything to see." Sasuke joked. Sakura glared at him and left him for the counter. She paid for her groceries and left. Unfortunately for her, Sasuke was following close behind.

"Hey, why did you leave me there? Others may think that you ditched your boyfriend." Sasuke started. He just wanted to get a reaction from Sakura because it amuses him.

"Why are you walking with me? Don't you have your expensive car to ride? Leave me alone will you?" Sakura barked at Sasuke. Sasuke grabbed Sakura's groceries from her hand and walked ahead of her.

"Oy, give me that! Hey! What are you doing? What would your friends say when they see you carrying my groceries? That I'm ordering you against your will to do me a favour? Hey!" Sakura started to go around Sasuke for him to give the groceries back but he wouldn't. Finally, she gave up.

"Hey, at least walk slower, I can't keep up with your long strides!" Sakura sighed. "Hey, do you even know where I live?" she continued. Sasuke gave her a smirk and did not answer.

"Now you're smirking at me? Am I supposed to fall for that? Because if I had been the girls from our school, I'd be dying of extreme happiness." Sakura sarcastically said.

"I would love to see you act like those girls." Sasuke replied. In which Sakura rolled her eyes.

"What? Act like that? No way! I would not lose mu dignity over your smirk. No way. Those girls from our school? They are crazy to even look at you. I mean, there is nothing to see! You're just annoying! And arrogant! And in love with your bestfriend! Wait, is that why you are here right now?" Sakura asked. Finally understanding the situation (or so she thinks).

"What do you mean?" Sasuke was curious as to where this girl's thoughts had gone to.

"Has Uzumaki-san got a date?" Sakura started.

"Yeah, he is out with this girl from school. Why do you ask?" Sasuke asked. Not understanding where she is going with her questions.

"Oh, that's why you're here. You are heartbroken because he is out with a girl when he could have been with you. You wanted to tell someone your feelings but you are afraid that they may judge you so you came here because you know that I'm the only person who knows your real preference." Sakura explained proudly.

Sasuke almost dropped the groceries he was holding. "What?! Where did you get the idea that I LIKE NARUTO?!" He shouted at her. Many passers-by heard what he said and started looking at him weirdly.

"You crazy girl, look at what happened, now these people will think that I'm gay!" Sasuke said to Sakura. The girl was smiling at him.

"Aren't you gay? And you should be proud of telling others who you really are!" Sakura continued teasing Sasuke. They were almost at her house and she had to admit that she had fun walking with him.

"I am not gay. Naruto is my best friend. Get that through your head! If I wasn't holding your groceries for you I would have strangled you!" Sasuke threatened. Sakura is unfazed by that, she knew Sasuke wouldn't hurt her.

"Okay, okay. I won't tell anyone." Sakura said. Nobody spoke for a few minutes.

"Hey, was someone really sneaking on you earlier?" Sasuke started. He gave her glance. She was looking ahead.

"I don't know. I thought I saw someone, but when I looked at it. It was gone." Sakura explained.

"Must have scared you alot huh?"

"Yeah." Sakura replied. Comfortable silence fell between the two.

"Hey, here's my stop." Sakura started to get the bags from Sasuke but he wouldn't budge. "Okay, what the heck is your problem now?"

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Sasuke asked suggestively.

"No, you're a guy. I don't invite guys over. Who knows what you will do to me? You might attack me or something." Sakura murmured the last part to herself. Sasuke was looking at her contemplatingly.

"Okay, at least let me walk you to your door. These bags are heavy." Sasuke did not wait for an answer and started going to Sakura's door. He left the bags there and waited for Sakura to follow.

Sakura walked to the door and opened it with her keys. She got the bags and entered the door. She nodded at Sasuke.

"Thanks by the way." Sakura said. She was about to close the door when Sasuke spoke.

"Hey, scholar. Be careful, okay? For me." Sasuke closed the door himself when Sakura stayed rooted on the spot. He walked away from the house, amused of Sakura's reaction. She never fails to make him smile. Then he turned serious when he remembered what happened at the grocery store.

 _'Gotta tell my dad about this'_ Sasuke thought.

* * *

"The nerve of that guy!" Sakura was blushing after he said that, good thing he did not see.

"Ugh! Annoying!" Sakura had to admit, he made her feel safe. She instantly forgot about the incident at the grocery store because of him. She smiled to herself and went to the kitchen to have her dinner.

* * *

"Boss?"

"Yeah?"

"I have found her."

"Are you sure it's her?"

"Yes, boss. 100% sure."

"Tomorrow, you make your move."

"Okay, Boss."

* * *

 **I would like to thank** **Dieinhappiness** **for being the first reader to review on this story. And also for** **following and making this story part of your favourites list. And to others who have reviewed and followed. Thank You!**

 **Julienne Kiel**


	6. The Hooded Man

**CHAPTER 5**

Sakura went to her job after her encounter with Sasuke that afternoon. It was already 7:00 pm and she was explaining to HInata how to work as a waitress. Hinata decided to join the cafe so she could be with Sakura and the other girls, and because she does not want to stay in the Hyuuga mansion with all the bodyguards and maids staying close to her.

"So Hinata-chan, what did Hiashi-sama say when you told him about you working here?" Sakura asked. There were only a few people that evening so they are free to talk.

"He was not happy at first," Hinata said while cleaning a nearby table that was occupied by a young couple earlier, "but when I said that this could be my training ground before I work in our company, he finally agreed." Hinata said happily.

"Okay, but what's with the bodyguards?" Sakura asked, as she looked outside the glass walls of the cafe, and spotted 5 bodyguards wearing suits.

Hinata smiled, embarrassed, "Well, father said that I should take them with me while working, though, I insisted that the place is safe, he still wouldn't let me go alone," she said. "Um, do you think INo would mind?"

"I think she'd be happy about it, thinking that important people are coming to her cafe to eat." Sakura smiled at Hinata, Hinata who was still looking at the guards outside, accidentally bumped a cup of tea from the table she was cleaning. It stained her new uniform.

"Don't worry, we have extra uniforms here, come on." Sakura said, guiding Hinata to the staff room. She opened a locker which revealed plenty of new uniforms, she handed one to Hinata.

"Go ahead and change." Sakura pointed at the changing room. Hinata nodded and left.

Sakura was about to get back to work when the staff room opened, revealing Tenten, she looks wary and confused.

"Hey, what's up?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, you know me right? I don't easily judge people, well, except for those snobs form school, right?" Tenten asked her.

Sakura looked at Tenten confusedly, wondering where this conversation is going.

"Um, you were pretty judgemental when you first met Ino, though." Sakura said.

"Well, she's easy to judge, and she's annoying back then, even now. But aside from Ino, I've been very fair to all those people that I meet right? Right?" Tenten is now holding Sakura's hands wanting her to agree.

"Um, yeah. Why do you ask?" Sakura curiously asked.

"Well, you see..." Tenten looked behind her, slightly opening the door to look at something, then closing it again.

"Sakura, there is this man, ugh, customer, who gives me the creeps. I mean, I've been here for three hours and throughout those hours, he's been sitting there and drinking coffee! It's like, he's 'observing' the place." Tenten explained, Sakura peeked behind Tenten, trying to see who she was talking about. And she saw him, a man, wearing a black shirt with a hood on. Sakura could barely see his face.

"Yeah, I'm sure a man addicted to coffee is really suspicious." Sakura retorted. "Tennie, I think you're just tired and over-thinking. Why don't you rest for a while? I'll take care of the customers." Sakura said as she went out of the staff room.

Sakura continued her work, but she kept stealing glances at the man that got Tenten so worked up.

"Hey Sakura, table 15!" Chouji said from the counter. Sakura nodded and grabbed the tray. She made her way to table 15... which was a few feet away from the hooded man's table.

She did not miss how the man's slouched figure, suddenly become alert and attentive. She ignored it though.

 _'Must be my imagination, Tenten's words must be getting to me. Just to be cautious, if the guy tries anything, I will have to stab him with my ever-reliable pen.'_ she thought. She reached for her pen in her pocket and frowned when she felt nothing. d was not surprised to see the hooded man handing the pen to her.

"Excuse me, miss. You dropped this." A cold voice said from behind her. She slowly turned an

She accepted the pen without taking her eyes off the man. Now that she got a closer look, she could say that she second Tenten's judgment of the man. He was tall, in her 5'5 height, he is taller by 6 or more inches. Maybe 5 years older than her. He has grayish hair and was wearing glasses.

"Thanks, mister." Sakura said and turned to leave when he spoke.

"Be careful of things which are important to you, or you might lose them." The cold voice said. Sakura froze in her tracks. _'Be careful? What?'_ She turned to face the man but found him already gone.

 _'What does that mean?'_

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was annoyed. Itachi kept on pestering him about Sakura. Apparently, Itachi saw them at the grocery store when he passed by as he was driving back home. Imagine Sasuke's surprise when Itachi greeted him with a knowing look on his face, when he got home.

"So Sasuke, you finally had the guts to talk to her? It has been so long right? And here I thought that you had a change of heart and went for Naruto instead." Itachi teased.

"Shut up, Nii-san." Sasuke turned away from Itachi and saw his mother standing by the doorway with her mouth agape.

"Mother? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, approaching his mother.

"Sasuke? Is it true? You like Naruto? I mean, you do act as if you guys are more than friends. Son, Mommy will totally understand if you're not into girls, so you don't have to hide it. I'll be proud of you no matter what! If you find it hard to tell people then I will do it myself. I will announce to the media that you're gay. I can even help you dress up, I'm sure you hate those guy clothes that you wear." Mikoto said excitedly with her eyes sparkling.

Sasuke was looking at his mother as if she has grown two heads.

 _'An announcement to the media? What!?'_ Itachi was snickering at the background. Sasuke sent him a glare before facing his mother.

"Mother, I don't like him. Why do people keep on thinking that I LIKE NARUTO?!" He couldn't help but scream the last part because of his annoyance.

"Oh?" A new voice said from the doorway behind Mikoto. Sasuke's face burned with embarrassment when he recognized the figure.

"Father, you're back from work." Sasuke greeted his father, with his face down. Itachi was trying hard not to laugh, clearly enjoying the situation. Even Mikoto was amused with Sasuke's misery.

"What an _interesting_ conversation you're having." Fugaku said, while looking at Sasuke.

"Oh darling, we were just teasing Sasuke." This time, Mikoto let out a laugh. Fugaku smiled at that.

"Dinner is ready." The Butler announced.

They all went to the huge dining room to eat. Mikoto was asking Fugaku about his work, while Itachi and Sasuke listened. They were almost finished when Sasuke remembered something.

"Father, I have something to tell you." Sasuke said. The serious sound of his voice made everyone on the table look at him.

"What is it Sasuke?" Fugaku asked.

"It's about Sakura."

* * *

 **Hello, I would like to thank you all for the reviews. I really appreciate it. I will update soon because this chapter is really short.**

 **-Julienne Kiel**


	7. Untitled

**CHAPTER 6**

"Bye Sakura!" Ino yelled as she waved. Sakura had just ended her shift and was preparing to leave the cafe. She exited through the back door after making sure that she had locked the entrance door and the windows.

It was dark in the alley from where she is. It was already close to midnight and the only people in the streets would be thugs and drunkards.

She was busy securing the locks of the back door when she felt a movement behind her. She whipped her head so fast and prepared to throw a punch when she saw Sasuke's face inches away from hers. Sakura froze, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Sasuke, smirked at her and moved his face closer to Sakura's. So close, that Sakura could feel his breath on hers.

She still couldn't move. _'Move, Move, MOVE!'_

Just as she thought that she will get her unwanted first kiss. She felt Sasuke's hand on her chin and lifted it so she could close her mouth.

"You look funny." He said, getting Sakura back to her senses. She pushed Sasuke away but he wouldn't budge so she chose to move away from him.

"What are you doing?! Why are you here?!" She shouted at him, keeping a good distance away from him.

"I want to walk you home." Sasuke said simply. He tested the lock of the back door, seeing that it's already locked, he turned to face her again. "Are you ready to go?"

"What? I don't need you to walk me home. We're not even friends." Sakura snapped at him as she started walking. Sasuke followed close behind.

"We're not? But we have been spending a lot of time together. If you don't see me as a friend, perhaps, you see me more than that?" Sasuke joked.

"What? No! You really are so full of yourself, huh?" Sakura rolled her eyes at him, but she was somehow enjoying his company.

"I consider us friends, though, I wouldn't mind if we get into something more." Sasuke smirked at her. Sakura punched his shoulder.

"Stop flirting with me! I'm tired and I have no strength to argue with you now." Sakura exasperatedly said. She refused to look at him, afraid that he'd see her blushing face.

"Okay, I'll stop. Have you eaten yet?" Sasuke asked, concerned. He tried to have a peek at her face, but failed.

"Don't hold yourself responsible over me. I can take care of myself, really." Sakura tiredly said. She went inside a convenience store, not bothering to look if he followed or not.

"Hm... what to eat?" Sakura asked herself, looking for food. "I should buy something for breakfast till dinner tomorrow." She picked cup of noodles and went to the cashier.

"Those are unhealthy, don't you know how to cook?" Sasuke said beside her. He tried to pry the noodles from her fingers.

"I have no time to cook." Sakura totally forgot about him, she glared at him and slapped his hand away. "Leave my food alone." Sakura paid for her grocery and left the store.

"One of these days, I'll cook for you." He said, Sakura just rolled her eyes at him, not believing what he is saying.

"I have nothing to pay you, all my salary goes to my apartment and electricity bills." She muttered quietly.

"I'm rich. I don't need your money, and I don't need anything in exchange for that." Sasuke proudly said.

"Can we please stop talking about this? It won't happen anyway." Sakura said, glaring at him. "And you don't need to remind me how rich you are." She could already see her apartment. She almost sighed in relief, when it came to view. She's really tired and she wanted to sleep.

Sasuke noticed how tired she is and kept quiet as they reached her apartment door.

"Thank you for walking me home, though you really didn't need to." Sakura said while unlocking her apartment door. "Next time-''

"Next time?" A smile appeared on Sasuke's face.

"Uh, not that I mean that there will be next time! What I wanted to say is that you don't have to do this for me, I can take care of myself!" Sakura said, blushing madly. She was already inside her apartment.

Sasuke just looked at her, as if trying to figure her out.

"Anyway, goodnight!" Sakura said, she was about to close the door when he spoke.

"I'm not doing this for you." He said, Sakura was about to shout at him when he continued. "I'm doing this for myself, I wanted to keep you safe."

With that, he turned his back and disappeared in the night.

Sakura's heart was thumping wildly as she closed her apartment door. All her energy seem to have returned to her body.

"Ugh, Uchiha Sasuke! You annoying, gorgeous human being!" Sakura shouted. She went to her room and prepared for bed.

* * *

"Ugh, Uchiha Sasuke! You annoying, gorgeous human being!" Sasuke smirked at that. He was behind a tree at the side of Sakura's apartment. He did not leave until her bedroom lights went off.

"The things you do to me." He said to himself as he got in his car which he parked not too far away from her house, and went home.

* * *

Sakura was late for her first class. She woke up really late and now she was running through the hallway filled with students.

"Excuse me, ow!" Sakura exclaimed as she got hit by an elbow. She continued running, when her phone vibrated. She slipped the phone in her hand and read the text from Ino.

 **To: Sakura**

 **'** **Where are you? You're late!**

 **Kakashi-sensei is already here'**

 **From: Ino-pig**

"This is all because of that Uchiha!" Sakura blamed him, she was not able to sleep very well last night because of their encounter.

She was almost at her classroom door when she bumped really hard at someone.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!" The girl Sakura bumped into said.

"Sorry!" Sakura said, while looking at the girl. It was Ami.

"You look familiar." Ami said, looking hard at her. Ami's friend whispered to her. "It's the girl from the cafe, the one who poured water on you!"

"I'm sorry, I don't know you." Sakura said as she turned on her back and went inside her classroom.

"How dare that little thing!" Ami screeched. "She turned her back on me! No one has ever done that to me! She'll see, I'll make her suffer." She said darkly.

* * *

"Why were you late forehead?" Ino asked. They were walking at the hallway heading to Ino's next class.

"I wasn't able to sleep well last night." Sakura said. She had a free time in her next period so she decided to accompany Ino to her next class. Hinata and Tenten already went to their classes.

 _'_ _Because of a certain Uchiha'_ she thought to herself.

"I thought something happened to you because I wasn't able to drop you off last night! I was really worried." Ino said looking at Sakura. "Why don't you ride with me later? After work?"

"Thanks Ino, but it will be out of your way." Sakura gave a small smile to Ino.

"But forehead-" Ino stopped when she saw a guy walking to their direction. Her attention was full on the guy, and she had hearts on her eyes.

Sakura turned at the direction Ino was looking. It was Nara Shikamaru from Sasuke's group.

"Oi, Ino!" Sakura tried getting her best friend's attention but Ino wouldn't budge. Nara Shikamaru was now in front of Ino, who was blushing and looking amazed that he approached her.

Sakura was watching the two, wondering what is going to happen. She then saw Shikamaru's mouth open, to say something to her bestfriend.

'Are they together now?' she thought, wondering when it happened.

"You're blocking the door." Shikamaru said. Sakura placed her hand on her mouth, trying not to laugh. Ino who was still looking at Shikamaru nodded her head and moved out of the way to let him pass. He did and closed the door behind him.

"Ino-pig, you look ridiculous!" Sakura was now giggling, as she watch Ino return to her senses.

"Forehead, see you later! I got to have the seat beside him!" Ino said as she hurriedly opened the door of the room and disappeared inside.

Sakura looked at the deserted hallway, and decided to go to the library. It is at a different building where only a few student stay. The library isn't used that much because the rich people did not find it necessary. That's why it is almost a secluded area. When she reached the building, she noticed the open door of the dark cleaning equipment room. She could smell the foul odor coming from it and wondered why it was left open. She approached the door to close it, only to be pushed hardly inside and be met by the wet floor of the room. She hastily stood up and turned to leave, only to find the door locked.

"Hey! Let me out!" She screamed to whoever pushed her. She placed her ear on the door and could hear girls laughing from the other side. "Let me out!" Sakura tried again, while banging the door. She knows that only the janitor has the key to this room and if she was lucky, he could just be taking a break and will be back soon to find her inside.

Sakura looked behind her and tried to see in the dark. She coughed and covered her nose from the dust that she inhaled. She took out her phone and tried to text Ino.

"No signal." Sakura read. She started banging the door again. "Help! Hello?!" There were no windows in the room and Sakura started to have trouble breathing. She tried to calm herself and take small breaths.

"HELP ME! ANYONE! PLEASE!" Sakura screamed. She is now punching the hard door of the room. She could feel her knuckles hurting.

 _'_ _Step... Step... Step...'_

Sakura stopped punching and trained her ears, she could hear footsteps.

 _'_ _Someone's here!'_

"Hello? Could you help me? I'm locked inside the cleaning room!" Sakura said to the person, she waited for a response, but heard nothing.

"Hello? Is someone out there? Please help me!" She screamed and started hitting the door again.

"I can't help you." Sakura heard someone say. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. She could swear she heard the voice clearly, as if... _they're in the same room._

Sakura's heart was pumping really hard now. She doesn't know if it's because of the lack of air in her brain or something else. Sakura looked at the dark room again, she took a step forward and focused her eyes. She could now see things in the dark room. She focused her eyes at the darkest part of the room.

' _Is that?'_

Sakura's eyes widened and took a step back when she saw a figure of a man from that part of the room. He stood up and started his way to her.

"I can't help you because I'm in the same room as you." The man said sinisterly. "Hello Sakura, are you ready to die?" as he stepped nearer.

Sakura gasped and frantically screamed at the door for help.

He was closer now. He raised his arm and was about to strike Sakura.

Sakura could do nothing but scream.

 **BANG!**

She fell limp on the floor.

* * *

 **I would like to apologize for the late update. Starting today, I will update every Friday. I have another chapter for you all, as a peace offering. Thank you for the reviews.**

 **-Julienne Kiel**


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Sasuke was walking in the hallways. He was late for his class but he didn't mind. He was smart and he knows that the teacher wouldn't mind if he did not attend the class. He was just passing time and was wondering where a certain scholar would be when he heard girls laughing.

"That would teach her!" A girl said. Sasuke was just about to leave when he heard what the girls said next.

"Yeah, she wouldn't think of pouring another pitcher of water on me now that she had her lesson!" The girl snidely said. Sasuke looked at the girl, and realized that it was the girl from the cafe.

"Oi" Sasuke said, addressing the two girls. The girls instantly had hearts in ther eyes as they realized that he was talking to them.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ami said. She approached him and tried to cling on him but he moved away.

"What were you talking about just now?" He glared at them. The two girls looked at each other then back at Sasuke.

"Um, it was just about getting back to this annoying girl, we locked her inside the cleaning room. She was so annoying, imagine that poor girl turned her back on me while I was talking to her, and—Sasuke-kun, where are you going?" Ami asked as Sasuke turned away from her.

"Shut up, annoying." Sasuke glared hard again and left.

The two girls were left standing in the hallway wondering what just happened.

Sasuke was running really fast, he was thinking how long she could've been locked inside the cleaning room. He looked around him and cursed himself for being unfamiliar with this part of the school.

'Where is it?'

Sasuke was about to run again when he heard banging from not too far away from him. He followed the noise and saw the room he was looking for at the end of the hallway. He could hear her screaming. He ran fast to the door and tried its lock. It wouldn't open.

Sasuke distanced himself from the door and raised his leg to kick the door open.

Sakura screamed again.

 **BANG!**

Sasuke successfully opened the door and found Sakura lying of the wet floor of the dark room. He held her form and carried her. He looked at her while he was carrying her. Her knuckles were bruised and bloody. Her face was sweating and she was deeply breathing.

Sasuke reached the infirmary and saw Kurenai who immediately stood up seeing Sakura in his arms.

"She was locked inside the cleaning room." Sasuke explained quickly as he placed her on a bed.

Sasuke watched as Kurenai tend to Sakura's wounds. After a few minutes, she stepped back and let Sasuke near Sakura.

"You may go to your class. She will be fine here." Kurenai said to him.

"I won't leave her." Sasuke answered. As he situated himself at the chair beside Sakura's bed.

Kurenai just looked at him and nodded as she left the two alone.

* * *

 _Thump... Thump... Thump..._

 _That was all that she can hear from the dark room, the loud thumping of her chest. She scanned her surrounding from what she could see under her papa's study table, trying to train her eyes to see even the slightest movement that could be her end._

 _Step... Step... Step..._

 _She held her breath, sweat rolling down from the side of her face. Her wide green eyes looking frantically from her hiding place for something that could save her. She could practically feel her heart bursting out of her chest._

 _'Please, help me... anyone...' she prayed silently._

 _"Where are you little girl?" hissed the intruder._

 _She whimpered silently. She wanted her mama and papa to be here. She prayed to the Gods for the man to just leave and not find her._

 _Step... Step... Step..._

 _She could hear the faint sound of the man's footstep and the opening and closing of the door that told her that the man already left. She waited still, not trusting her surroundings. After a minute of waiting, she slowly got up and made her way to the door. Trying to move silently as possible which is hard considering that she's in a dark room._

 _She did not notice the man hiding behind the dark shadow of the room._

 _She did not notice the sinister smile that crept up the man's face._

 _She did not notice as he slowly made his way to her._

 _She pressed her ear to the door and sighed in relief._

 _'They're gone, I'm safe, I'm-'_

 _"Found you!"_

* * *

Sakura immediately sat up and looked around frantically.

"Hey, calm down." She heard someone say beside her. She looked at the person and saw the annoying Uchiha. Sakura calmed herself. She looked around her and realized she was in the clinic.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"The girl from the cafe locked you inside the room and you passed out from the lack of air." Sasuke said.

'passed out?'

Sakura tried to remember what happened. She remembered someone inside the room with her. A man!

"A man! There was someone inside the room! He was standing before me!" Sakura said to Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in alarm.

"A man? Are you sure?" He asked her. Trying to look indifferent.

"I don't know? Maybe I'm just hallucinating? I don't know." Sakura said more to herself. She tightly held her hair between her fingers, trying to remember what happened.

"Hey, calm down." Sasuke gently pried her hands away from her hair. "You should rest." Sakura let him hold her fingers and laid down on the bed. She was feeling drowsy.

"Hey, don't leave." Sakura said drowsily. Sasuke smiled gently, she was exhausted with the ordeal.

"I won't." Sasuke answered as he held her hand between his and watched her peacefully sleep.

* * *

"Is there a good news?"

"Um, sir. I wasn't able to kill her."

"You failed me again?"

"No sir, someone arrived and-"

"Enough with your excuses! Do what you need to do or face the consequences!"

* * *

 **There! 2 chapters for you all! Next chapter on Friday next week.**

 **-Julienne Kiel**


	9. The Visit

**CHAPTER 8**

Hinata was worried, she heard about what happened to Sakura from Ino. She had been in her class when it happened. Ami was also in that class, but she arrived before the late teacher came. She was running in the hallways, eager to reach the clinic and see how Sakura is.

She reached the clinic and slowly opened the door. The nurse's table was empty so she went in to look for her friend. There were many empty beds inside, but there was one hidden behind a clinic curtain. She peeked inside the curtain and saw a bed with a sleeping Sakura. She was about to open the curtain wider when a movement stopped her.

There, perched on the chair beside the bed was Uchiha Sasuke himself. He had his eyes closed as he lean against his chair.

To say that Hinata was surprised was an understatement.

 _Uchiha-san?_

Hinata never had any idea about them being friends. She knows that Sakura hated his guts, so it came as a surprise that someone like Sasuke would care for Sakura. Hinata smiled and took a step back. She quietly left the clinic seeing as her friend is okay. She decided to go to the cafeteria, she will save them a seat for lunch.

She was walking across the school grounds when she noticed a man standing near a window. She looked at the man, he was sweeping the leaves from the ground. But he wasn't focused on his task, he was more focused on peeking inside the window near him.

 _Isn't that the clinic window?_

Hinata stopped walking and focused on the man dressed as a janitor. He took out his phone and called someone, he looked scared through the entire phone call. The call has ended and the man must have felt her gaze on him for her turned his head and looked straight at her.

* * *

"Sakura?" the said girl flinched when Tenten touched her shoulder. Tenten removed her hand when she saw the girl's reaction. "Sorry, you were spacing out."

Sakura returned to her senses and looked at her friends. They were in the cafeteria having their lunch and their discussion was about what happened earlier. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Forehead, are you okay? Are you still going into shock?" Ino asked worriedly. "When I see that Ami, I'll punch her in the face that she won't be able to show her ugly self here!"

"Ino-" Sakura started but was stopped by Ino.

"Forehead, don't try to stop me! And besides, Sasuke is on our side!" Ino announced with her eyes sparkling. Sakura, Tenten and Hinata looked at his table, and he chose that exact moment to look at theirs. Sakura's eyes met his and he smirked at her. She rolled her eyes in return and went back to eating.

"See that brief meeting of their eyes? It's like they are speaking to each other without saying anything! So romantic!" Ino was now giggling like a little girl. Tenten and Hinata were smiling at Sakura, agreeing with Ino.

"Hello? I was locked inside a dark room and all you guys think of is how romantic that guy is?" Sakura sarcastically said. "He isn't romantic, he was just at a right place at the right time. Had it been any other person, he would do the same."

"For once, I agree with Ino." Tenten said. "I mean, he is Uchiha Sasuke, he isn't the type of guy to do something for other people. If It happened to me, I'd bet that he would just ignore me. Really Sakura, I think he cares for you."

"Yeah, when I visited you in the clinic earlier, I saw him sleeping beside your bed. That was a really sweet gesture from him." Hinata added.

Sakura just looked at her friends and pretended not to care about their suspicions about her and Sasuke. When she woke up from the clinic bed earlier, he just stood up and gave her a pat on the head and left. She looked at his table again, he was talking with his friends. She noticed how his muscles flexed when he reached over the table to grab Naruto's collar and punch him lightly in the shoulder.

 _It must feel good to be held in those arms._

She blushed at her thoughts and tried to listen to her friends' conversation.

* * *

"Forehead, no need to go to the café today, I already told Mom what happened and she said that you take the day off." Sakura was about to protest when Ino continued. "You need to rest Forehead, and I won't take no for an answer. Come on, I'll drop you off." Ino guided Sakura to her car and sped off.

"See you in school on Monday, Forehead!" Ino yelled to Sakura before rolling up her car window and driving off.

Sakura looked at the space where Ino's car had been, she sighed and turned toward her apartment door. She entered her apartment and went straight to her bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes.

She, then, opened her living room TV and settled at the couch. She was looking at the screen but not really seeing. Before, she was used to being alone, but after what happened in school, she was now craving for another presence with her. She kept on remembering what happened inside the dark room, it felt so real, the silhouette of the man who was about to strike her. But she still couldn't decide if it was just because her brain was fuzzy or if he was really there, there to kill her. At least, that was what she thought she heard from the man.

She did not want to admit it but she was feeling scared. She wished there was someone who could be with her at times like this, for someone to understand her and to make her feel safe.

She couldn't tell her friends, she wasn't sure if they will believe her. And if there really was someone who wants her dead, then, she doesn't want to involve them.

She was busy with her musings when the television turned off. She was confused as she looked blankly at the TV. The electricity couldn't be cut off. The lights were on, the TV plug was still in the socket, and there was the light at the bottom left of the appliance that shows that it is still okay. She looked for the remote control that she tossed somewhere around the room.

"You weren't watching so I turned off the TV." Sasuke said from behind her.

Sakura stood from the couch and screamed at him. "What do you think you're doing here?! This is trespassing!"

"You didn't lock your door, which I really should reprimand you about, so I locked your door for you and invited myself in." He said as he casually turned the TV on again and sat on the couch as if the house is his.

"What? I always lock my door! And that still doesn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" She walked in front of him, blocking his view of the TV.

Sasuke sighed and looked at Sakura, as if he gives up. "I was worried about you, okay? I thought you might want the company after what happened earlier."

Sakura didn't want to admit it but what he said was… sweet.

She looked at him, he looked tired and sweaty. He must've come from his varsity practice, and instead of going straight to his home, he went to check on her. She felt her heart jumping at the thought. She turned away from him to hide the blush that she could feel from her cheeks.

He had been nice to her, and she was always trying to avoid him, but now she thinks that she can no longer avoid him. He already, somehow, made a place in her life. And she was too tired of turning away from him, she decided to just let him in her life.

"Would you like anything to drink?" She made her way to her kitchen without waiting for his answer. She prepared two glasses of lemonade and went back to the living room. She placed the glasses on the coffee table and sat beside him on the couch.

He was looking at her strangely, "You're actually letting me stay? You're still sick, aren't you?" He reached for a glass and took a sip, still looking at her.

"I'm too tired to argue with you, and I know that you would still pester me if I kick you out of my apartment."

"I knew you'd see sense, so, are you giving me permission to visit you?" He was looking seriously at her face. "Sakura?" He said sensually, it had been the first time that he mentioned her name and it startled her. Sakura couldn't look away from his dark pools. His face was getting closer to hers and she couldn't move her head away from him. It was like she was being hypnotized, and without her knowing, she nodded her head.

Sasuke smirked at her and she regained her senses. She quickly stepped away from him, realizing how close they were. "Um, I will prepare dinner, you can stay if you want." And with that, Sakura is gone.

Sasuke smiled when she left, he had been so close to her. He wondered if she will let him get that close again. He groaned, he will do whatever it takes to get her to open up to him.

* * *

Sakura had been busy preparing the meal that she forgot about Sasuke in her living room, she had returned to her calm and collected self. But now that she had finished and was preparing the table to eat, she became anxious. What will she do if he tries to flirt with her again? She shook her head to clear her thoughts. When she was ready, she called him to join her at the table. And to her relief, dinner wasn't filled with flirtations from him, it was just a casual discussion about school and work. She was enjoying their conversation that she did not realize that they had finished their meal.

"I'll wash these." Sasuke volunteered as he collected the plates from the table. Sakura shook her head at him.

"You're a visitor, and it will feel weird seeing a school heartthrob washing these." Sakura took the plates from him and went to the kitchen. He followed her. "At least let me help." And with that, they both washed the plates, with Sasuke sprinkling water on her every now and then. Sakura would do the same to get even.

Soon enough, Sasuke had to leave, Sakura walked him to her door.

"Thank you for the company. I really appreciate it." Sasuke opened the door and let himself out. He turned to look at her, with that smirk plastered on his face. "You're not that bad."

"Are you starting to fall for me now? I wouldn't mind." He arrogantly said. "Lock your doors, okay? I left my number on your dining table. Call me anytime if you need help." He said seriously. "Okay?"

Sakura nodded at him, she was touched by his concern.

She was still standing there, waiting for him to leave but he looked as if he wanted to do something. She was right. Instead of walking away, he walked towards her. He was so close to her. She refused to meet his gaze and kept looking at his shirt. Sasuke lifted her chin and made her look at him.

Sakura met his eyes, she could see his face coming to meet hers. She couldn't speak, all coherent thoughts left her.

"What are you doing?" She whispered when his face was only centimetres away.

As his face got closer, all Sakura could do was close her eyes and wait for something to happen.

And then she felt it, the slight pressure from his lips.

He kissed her... on the forehead.

"Good Night" was all she heard and when she opened her eyes, he was already walking away from her.

 _'_ _What was that?'_

Sakura was blushing when she locked her door and ran straight to her room and screamed at her pillow. She didn't know what she was feeling. Her heart is thumping in her chest and she feels warm inside. Whatever it is, she likes the feeling. She lied on her bed with a sweet smile on her face, and let sleep take over her.


	10. The Attack

**CHAPTER 9**

Sakura was more than happy that she did not have school the next day. She did not know how to face Sasuke after what happened last night.

 _'_ _He kissed me'_ She blushed at the thought. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand.

It was Saturday and Sakura decided to clean her apartment, not that she wanted it to be presentable when Sasuke drops by again.

After two hours of moving furniture, dusting and sweeping here and there, she was finally contented with how the apartment looks.

She felt uncomfortable with her sweaty body so she decided to shower. She sighed when hot water ran over her body, she felt relaxed. After spending 30 minutes inside her bathroom, she went out and picked a comfortable oversized shirt and shorts.

Sakura looked at her wall clock. It was almost noon, she still needs to prepare for lunch. She looked inside her refrigerator, undecided on what she should cook.

She was still thinking when her doorbell rang. She creased her eyebrows, who would be visiting her this time? She approached her door and slowly opened it, she almost closed the door again when she saw the person at her door.

"You're here... again," She glared, "with one of your buddies." as she looked at Naruto who was smiling wildly at her.

"Hello Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted, Sasuke just rolled his eyes at Naruto and looked at Sakura. Sakura caught his look and remembered what happened last night. She reddened at the thought.

"If you're here for free lunch then you'd be disappointed, I have not prepared anything." She boredly said to them.

"Really?! That's great! Teme and I bought pizza for us!" He shouted, bringing up the pizza to her face. Naruto then walked inside her apartment, ignoring Sakura's glare as he comfortably settled on Sakura's couch. Sakura looked at him incredulously, completely ignoring Sasuke who was yet to enter her apartment.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch a fly." She felt his hot breath on her ear, and it gave her a tingling sensation throughout her body. She jumped away from him as far as possible. She glared at him, trying to hide her blush.

Sasuke entered her apartment and closed the door. Sakura sighed as he sat beside Naruto and opened the pizza. Her stomach grumbled when she caught the scent of pizza. She really must be hungry.

She slowly walked to them and grabbed one slice. She sat on the opposite chair and grabbed the remote to watch TV, with the intention of ignoring the two.

Naruto was talking loudly, without any answer from the two. Sakura went to her kitchen for a drink, oblivious of Sasuke's eyes following her move.

Sakura grabbed three glasses and a pitcher of water. She placed them on a tray and was about to leave when she bumped into Sasuke's hard chest. She almost dropped the tray, good thing Sasuke held on the tray and steadied Sakura by putting one hand on her waist.

Sakura stared at Sasuke's deep black eyes which hypnotize her all the time.

 _'_ _Avert your eyes now!'_

"Sorry I had to bring Naruto with me, I was planning to spend time with you, but he appeared in my doorstep and wouldn't stop bugging me." He explained, Sakura was surprised that he is explaining himself. She could only nod at him.

 _'_ _He wanted to spend time with me? Isn't that sweet? Wait, why is his face moving closer to mine? Is he planning to-'_

"Hey Teme! You're missing the show!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke quickly moved away from Sakura and removed his hand from her waist and left with the tray. Sakura released a long breath that she was holding. She placed a hand on her chest to clam her beating heart.

It was almost 6:00 when the two decided to leave, Sakura wouldn't admit it, but she enjoyed spending time with them. Naruto was full of stories, she was laughing all the time that he was talking. And Sasuke as usual, would annoy Naruto and the two would start a fight. In which she would be the mediator.

"See you at school Sakura-chan! Hey Isn't that Kiba?! Oi Kiba!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards the direction where he saw Kiba.

Sakura just smiled at his back and looked at Sasuke who was standing beside her... standing _too_ close beside her.

"You enjoyed Naruto's company, huh?" He said with that husky voice of his.

"Yeah, I thought he would just annoy me with that loud voice of his." She said thoughtfully, ignoring Sasuke's stare on her face.

"I was jealous." He said seriously, that made Sakura look at him, confused.

"You- ah... what?"

"You were laughing uncaringly when he told you stories, I want to be the only person to make you smile and make you laugh. But every time we're together, you are always annoyed and you always want to leave." He said, glaring at the ground.

 _'He's jealous?'_

Sakura couldn't say anything about his confession, she was surprised herself that she laughed freely with Naruto, but with Sasuke, she's always nervous.

Sakura reached out a hand and touched Sasuke's arm, he looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

"You shouldn't be jealous of Naruto, he's really funny, and during the time I have spent with the two of you, I felt as if he is a brother that I never had." Sakura said quickly, then removed her hand from his arm but he caught it with his hand.

"You see him as a brother? How about me?" He asked, smirking at her, he closed the distance between them that she could feel the heat from his body.

"You? I- ah- hey, shouldn't you be going? Naruto's waiting-" Sakura stopped when he slammed both of his hands on the door, trapping her between the door and his body.

"Sakura? What do you think of me?" He whispered, she could feel his breath on her lips, he was that close. Sakura could not think coherently, all she could think of was that Sasuke was going to kiss her, she waited for it, he was close when-

"Teme!" Naruto shouted, Sakura pushed Sasuke away and put a far distance between them. Naruto was running back to her apartment.

""What dobe?!" Sasuke, obviously annoyed, shouted back.

"Kiba and the others are going to play at a court just a few blocks from here! Let's join them!" Naruto said excitedly.

Sasuke glared hard at Naruto and looked back at Sakura, his expression softened and nodded at her. Sakura just nodded back without meeting his eyes.

"Bye Sakura-chan!" Naruto said again as he dragged Sasuke to the court not far from Sakura's apartment. Sakura entered her apartment again with a red face.

 _'_ _That Uchiha!'_

* * *

Sakura awoke to the slight movement outside her window. She looked around her surroundings and found that she fell asleep on the couch. It was already dark outside. It was around 9:00 pm that time.

Sakura sat on the couch, not turning the lights on, she moved to her window where she heard a movement, she looked outside and saw nothing. She went to her kitchen to have a glass of water, she grabbed a glass and opened her refrigerator, the light inside the fridge revealed a figure at the corner of her kitchen. She gasped loudly as the figure jumped on her. The glass she was holding fell on the floor and the shards scraped her shoulder, drawing out blood.

She screamed in pain, the man covered her mouth and placed a knife on her throat.

"Scream again and you're dead" the man threatened her, Sakura stared with wide eyes at the man on top of her. He was wearing something that covers his face, only his eyes were visible.

Sakura stopped moving, scared of what the man will do to her.

"Are you ready to die, Sakura?" His voice made her blood ran cold. She was shaking, she couldn't move.

 _'_ _It wasn't a dream, what happened the other day wasn't just hallucinations'_

The man was looking at her, ready to strike when he stopped, a group of guys must have passed by the apartment because wolf-whistles and laughter were heard from inside the apartment. Sakura felt grateful for the interruption, she reached for a shard from the glass beside her and scratched the man in the face. He howled in pain and it gave Sakura and opportunity to kick him off her and run to her door.

But the man was quick to recover, he grabbed her hair and dragged her away from the door. She screamed again, the man threw her on the wall, her head hit the wall hard, making her dizzy.

"You're going to pay for that!" The man said, as he punched Sakura. He grabbed her neck and tried to strangle her. Sakura was wheezing, she could see dots clouding her vision.

Loud banging was heard from the other side of the door, surprising the man. The man let go of Sakura's neck and ran to her kitchen window to escape as the door was kicked open with force.

Sakura could no longer stay awake, so she let the darkness engulf her.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 10**

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...

Sakura awoke to the beeping sound beside her, she tried to open her eyes but couldn't. She heard voices around her but couldn't place the people speaking.

"What happened to her?" A deep voice asked.

"Sir, the police are still investigating as we speak." Another man answered.

"I thought we have the police patrolling every night? Why did they miss that street?" The man asked again.

"Sir, the troop just passed by that street when the attack happened. Whoever the attacked is knows what time the police are roaming around."

"DOUBLE the SECURITY! We cannot have criminals roaming around every night, attacking innocent girls!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Have you checked the security cameras? I want to see the footage."

"Yes, sir!"

Sakura's mind was foggy, so she drifted to sleep once again. When she awoke once again, she successfully opened her eyes and looked around her. She could see white everywhere.

 _'_ _I'm in a hospital, why?'_ there was nobody with her. She tried to sit on the bed that she was on, but felt pain all over her body.

"What the heck happened?" Sakura asked herself, she held her head and felt a bandage around her head, she looked at her arms and saw the little cuts, some were stitched, there were bruises all over her body.

The door to her hospital room opened and a guy came in. She didn't know the guy, he looks the same age as her.

"How are you feeling?" the guy asked, scanning her bruises. He stood beside her bed, maintaining some distance from her.

"I feel like hell, who are you?" Sakura asked back.

"Hello, I'm Morino Idate, I brought you here." He said extending his hand as if to give her hand a shake but she just looked at it.

She did not want to be rude, but she doesn't know him, he could be the guy who attacked her and pretended to be innocent. The man took his hand back, unaffected by her reaction, he was about to say something when a nurse entered the room.

"Excuse me, Miss Haruno needs rest. You may visit her tomorrow." The nurse said, as she checked Sakura's condition. Idate just nodded his head at her and gave her a smile before leaving the room.

Sakura went back to sleep when the nurse left her after checking her vitals.

* * *

"Fugaku, aren't you going to tell Sasuke about Sakura?" Mikoto asked her husband as the drive back to the Uchiha Mansion. After rushing to the hospital when they were informed of Sakura's attack, they went to the Police Headquarters to check for the footage of the security camera. They saw the man lurking around Sakura's house but he was wearing a hood and they were not able to get a good look at his face.

"I will, he deserves to know what happened." Fugaku answered.

"What do you think happened? Is it because of _that_?" Mikoto asked again, worried of Sakura's condition.

"It's still too early to say, but there is a huge possibility that her attack is related to _that_. I have already told my men to double the security. And I have ordered them to watch over her house 24/7." Fugaku replied to Mikoto, he's trying to stay calm about the situation, but he knows that something big will happen and he has to prepare his family and Sakura for that.

* * *

Sakura woke up the next morning, with the feeling that she was being watched. She opened her eyes and looked around her room, she was alone. She sighed.

'You're being paranoid again'

The door opened and a worried Ino entered the room, followed by Tenten and Hinata. The three girls crowded over her and started asking her questions she did not understand.

"Wait, one at a time please, my brain is still fuzzy." Sakura told her friends who immediately shut up.

"Sakura-chan, we were worried! Was the culprit caught?" Hinata asked Sakura.

"Forehead, you don't look any different." Ino joked, but Sakura could see in her eyes that she was really worried.

"Those look nasty Sakura." Tenten commented as she settled herself beside Ino, looking at Sakura's bruises.

"I'm fine, stop worrying about me. How did you know that I was here?" Sakura asked them.

"Well, Ino dropped by my house this morning, saying that she wants to go shopping, and then we went to Hinata's." Tenten started.

"And then we went to your place, we were surprised of the policemen outside your apartment, Ino hysterically asked them where you were and they told us that you were here." Hinata continued.

"Ino was driving like crazy on the way here, I'm surprised that we arrived in one piece." Tenten joked, and she received a glare from Ino.

"Forehead, tell us what happened." And Sakura did, everything that happened the day before, even the arrival of Sasuke and Naruto on her doorstep. But she did not tell them that the person who tried to kill her _knows_ her. They'll be even more worried if she tells them that.

"What did the police say? Did they catch the criminal? He might come back for you!" Hinata exclaimed.

"I have not talked to them yet, you guys are my only visitors... and a guy named Idate." Sakura said.

"A guy? Is he hot?" Ino asked, wriggling her eyebrows at Sakura.

"Ino, aren't you dating Shikamaru? Why are you interested in Sakura's visitor?" Tenten asked exasperatedly.

"WHAT?! You're dating Shikamaru?!" Sakura asked, shocked at the revelation. "When did this happen and why wasn't I informed?"

"Don't worry Sakura, we knew it just this morning, when she picked us up." Hinata said, "Anyway Sakura, who is this Idate?"

"He said he brought me here after the attack-" Sakura was cut off by Ino.

"How romantic! He's your savior! When will we meet him?" Ino said, pulling Tenten's sleeve because of excitement. Tenten tried to remove her hand but she couldn't.

"What? I only met him yesterday, and I don't have time for boys Ino, especially after what happened last night."

"But Sakura-" Ino started again but stopped when Sakura raised her hand to signal Ino to stop talking.

"Ino, no boys." Sakura said, Ino just rolled her eyes and nodded.

Sakura's friends stayed until the nurse came in and told them to let Sakura rest, the girls bid their goodbye to Sakura and promised to be back the next day after school. Sakura felt lonely being alone again.

In the afternoon, she was told by the nurse that she may go home in the evening if she no longer feels dizzy, Sakura, wanting to leave the hospital, told the nurse that she is fine and ready to leave. The nurse prepared her discharge documents and left the room.

"Excuse me miss? Can I write a promissory note to the hospital? I can't pay the bills right now." Sakura said when the door opened, she wasn't looking at the door, she was looking at the cherry blossom tree beside her room window, it made her feel relaxed.

"It's taken care of." A deep and husky voice said which surprised Sakura, she looked at the person who owned the voice and saw Sasuke.

Sasuke was looking at her, he stepped closer to her bed. He looks furious, and worried. Sakura thought that the frown present on his face doesn't belong there. She reached a hand and smoothed his knotted forehead. Sasuke, surprised by the gesture looked at her.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Sakura tried to smile at him, he was about to say something when the nurse returned, telling Sakura that she is free to leave the hospital.

Sakura thanked the nurse and prepared to leave, she changed into some comfortable clothes that Ino brought when the girls visited her earlier. All the while, Sasuke was just there, waiting for her. He was not saying anything.

When Sakura was ready to go, Sasuke held her arm gently and guided her out of the building. It was a comfortable silence between them, when they reached the parking lot, Sasuke settled her inside his car and drove to the Uchiha mansion.

"Wait, this isn't the way to my apartment." Sakura commented when she noticed a different route they were taking.

"I know." was all Sasuke said. His eyes were on the road, his knuckles were gripping the wheel so hard that it turned white.

"Turn the car around." Sakura commanded Sasuke did not listen to her and instead he stepped on the accelerator.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, unconsciously calling him by his given name. Sasuke stepped on the brakes and turned to her. He must have seen the look of fear on her face because he calmed down and sighed. He reached for her hand which has turned cold.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." He said sincerely, Sakura just nodded and settled back to her seat.

"I don't want to fight you, but please, just turn the car around. I want to sleep at my place." Sakura said tiredly, Ino told her that her house was cleaned that morning when the girls stopped by at her place.

Sasuke dejectedly tuned the car around and drove to Sakura's place, when they reached her apartment, Sakura hurriedly jumped out of the car and ran to her apartment, hearing Sasuke's footsteps behind her.

Sakura opened her door and looked around, everything was back into place, she went to her kitchen and hit something with her slipper. She bent down to pick it up, it was from the glass that she dropped to the floor. It still has blood in it, from scraping her shoulder. Sakura remembered what happened and shuddered at the memory.

Sasuke appeared beside her and grabbed the piece of glass from her to throw it to the trash bin. Sakura looked at him as he faced her again.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, he guided her to a chair. Sakura let him do so. "I will prepare dinner for us." he said.

Sakura watched him as he cooked, he looks comfortable in her kitchen, _as if he belong there_. Sakura shook her head at the thought. Soon, Sasuke finished and they are munching on the food that he cooked.

"It's delicious." Sakura said over the silence. Sasuke just looked at her again. Sakura sighed, "I know that you want to say something, why don't you say it now?"

Sasuke placed his spoon down. "I was worried, why didn't you call me?"

"I was knocked out when they brought me to the hospital, and I didn't have time to call you. Is that what this is all about? You, not being the first person on the scene?" Sakura asked.

"No, I was just-" Sakura started but stopped himself, "Forget it. Come on, you need to rest." He said again and told Sakura to prepare for bed. She was thankful for that because she was really tired. She slipped in her bed and did not bother with Sasuke.

Sasuke cleaned up after their dinner and locked all the windows and the door before going to sakura's bedroom.

There was a small chair beside her bed and he settled there, he watched her sleep, he remembered earlier when she called by his name _'Sasuke'_ , it was the first time she did that, he smiled and closed his eyes until he succumbed into sleep too.

* * *

 **Hello, I'm not that proud of this chapter, hehe. I don't know why, I'm having trouble with thorough descriptions. Hope you don't mind. Thank you for the reviews. Another thing, I did not check if there are mistakes and errors. Please understand.**

 **I have not updated for weeks, I know, because I let an anonymous person's comment get to me. Haha. Anyway, I decided to give that person a cameo role in this story, wait for it!**

 **Julienne Kiel**


	12. The Plan

**CHAPTER 11**

Ino drove to Sakura's lane that Monday morning. She got out of her car and knocked at the door. She waited for a minute and got impatient when she got no reply.

"Forehead!" Ino shouted at the door, knocking repeatedly. She was about to bang on the door when she remembered that she has a duplicate key for Sakura's apartment. She fished for Sakura's key and unlocked the door.

"Hey Forehead, get up! We'll be late for school!" She shouted again, before going to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She was already in her second gulp when the bathroom door opened revealing Sasuke, an _almost_ naked Sasuke.

She almost spat the water on Sakura's floor as she stared wide eyed at him.

"Y-You!" Ino pointed her shaking finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke's head turned to her, his eyebrows raised, surprised to see her at Sakura's house. He nodded at her and turned his back, holding his phone in his right hand, talking to someone on the other line.

"H-Hey! W-What are you doing here?! What did you d-do to Sakura?! Did you sleep with her?! How could you take advantage of her?!" Ino screamed at him, following him as he made his way to the front door.

Sasuke just ignored her and kept talking with the other person on the line.

"Yeah Naruto, it's Yamanaka, ignore her. Hurry up. I need my uniform."

Ignore her? She was YAMANAKA INO! How could she have been stupid to like someone as handsome and rude as him?! She just rolled her eyes at him and went to Sakura's room.

She calmed down as she was met by her friend's cute face. She looked like she just woke up and was rubbing her eyes. Sakura blinked when she saw Ino at her door.

"Pig?" Sakura sleepily asked.

"Forehead, what was THE UCHIHA SASUKE doing here?" Ino asked worriedly.

"Oh, he slept here." Sakura answered innocently.

"Here? In your room?" Ino asked again, looking at Sakura excitedly. Sakura just nodded.

Ino's mind was running to all the possible things that happened with Sakura and Sasuke sleeping in the same house. A smile worked on her face.

"Did something happen to the two of you? Are you guys a couple now? So how was it? Did it hurt? Was he, you know, BIG?" Ino asked excitedly. She pulled Sakura's arm and continued, "Shikamaru and I aren't on that stage yet, he really is a lazy bum!"

Sakura just looked at her weirdly and left her alone to go shower. When Ino got out of the room she saw an already dressed Sasuke with an eating Naruto at Sakura's kitchen.

"Hey Naruto, why are you here?" Ino asked Naruto as she sat beside him.

"Teme called me this morning, he told me to get his uniform from his house and to drop it at Sakura-chan's house." Naruto explained as he slurped his ramen. Sasuke was just sitting quietly, stealing glences at the bathroom door.

"So... what did he tell you? Did something happen to them?" Ino whispered so only Naruto could hear.

Naruto looked at Ino questioningly, not understanding what she meant. Ino groaned and tried again. "I mean, did he tell you if they had... you know... sex?"

Naruto coughed out his ramen and reached for a glass of water, which Ino handed him. When he calmed down, he started laughing really hard and slapped his hand repeatedly on the table.

"That's impossible! Teme is gay! He never had a girlfriend, and I doubt that he already did it before me! AHAHAHAHA!" Naruto continued laughing, until Sasuke slapped the back of his head. Naruto's head slammed to the table.

Sasuke glared at Naruto's head then at Ino. He could already guess what they were talking about. "Nothing happened" was all he said before going back to his seat. Ino kept quiet for the rest of the morning.

* * *

Ino was with Shikamaru that afternoon after class. She was in deep thought that she completely ignored Shikamaru who was enjoying the silence. They were at the school bleachers, Shikamaru just finished his basketball training. They were the only ones in sight.

"That's it!" Ino exclaimed, clapping her hands as she looked at the guy beside her. Shikamaru opened his eye and looked at her questioningly. He didn't want to get into whatever it was that she was planning.

"They just need a little push! And we can help them!"

"We?" Shikamaru asked. But he wasn't really listening to her, she's thinking that it was one of her troublesome ideas.

"Sakura and Sasuke! Can't you see that there's something between them?" Shikamaru just raised his eyebrows at her and stood up.

"That's too troublesome, whatever the captain wants to do, it's his choice. He does not want people to meddle with his affairs. Come on, it's getting dark." He started walking and tuned Ino out as she continued with her plan.

* * *

Sasuke was following Sakura as she walked to her house. She seemed to be in deep thought, which is why he did not bother showing himself to her. He just wants to make sure if she gets home safely.

He was blaming himself for what happened to her. If he did not leave that afternoon for a basketball game, then the attack wouldn't have happened.

Imagine his worry when his parents told him the next day that Sakura was in the hospital. He was really frantic with fear as he drove to the hospital. It was a surprise that he reached the hospital in one piece and with no speeding ticket.

* * *

Flashback

 _Sasuke ran to the reception and slammed his hand on the table, surprising the two nurse who were chatting._

 _"_ _Haruno Sakura." The two nurse just looked at him with awe. The one near him batted her eyelashes and leaned in to show a little cleavage._

 _"_ _Haruno Sakura's room." He growled. The nurse flinched at that and leaned back. The other nurse grabbed the information sheet and looked for the name he mentioned._

 _"_ _She's in room 304, sir." Sasuke left immediately and ran to the elevator. He waited impatiently then ran to the stairs and climbed until 3_ _rd_ _floor. He ran to the nurse's station and asked again._

 _"_ _Haruno Sakura, room 304." The man at the station looked at him and at the papers in his hand._

 _"_ _She is ready to be discharged, are you going to pay the hospital bills?" The nurse answered him, telling him the amount. He grabbed his card and gave it to the nurse. The nurse processed his payment and gave him back the card while telling him the direction of the room._

 _He immediately saw the room he was looking for._

 _He opened the door and stepped in._

 _"_ _Excuse me miss? Can I write a promissory note to the hospital? I can't pay the bills right now." Sakura said while looking at the cherry blossom tree beside her room window._

 _"_ _It's taken care of." He said, he stepped closer to her bed. He was angry, seeing Sakura looking like that really angers him. He must have looked furious for Sakura smoothed his knotted forehead. Sasuke looked at her and softened his gaze._

End of Flashback

* * *

"Hey Uchiha?" The voice startled him, he looked at the person who spoke and saw Sakura waving her hand in front of his face.

He stared at her blankly, a little disappointed that she called him by his surname again.

"I knew you were following me, I thought you were going to crash again, but you just stayed here for half an hour. So, are you going to stay there all night? Or would you rather join me for dinner?" Sakura asked. He just nodded, which Sakura rewarded with a smile. He followed her as she walked back to her house.


	13. The Maid

**CHAPTER 11**

"Why were you following me?" Sakura asked after a minute of hesitation. She and Sasuke were in her living room, drinking a glass of lemonade that she prepared for the two of them. She had a feeling that she already knows Sasuke's reason but she wanted to hear it from him.

"Is it part of the security that your father provided? I'm really thankful for that but maybe you could leave it to the police, you don't need to trouble yourself over this." Sakura finished when Sasuke refused to answer her.

"And I'm sure that what happened the other night was just a random attack from a burglar." She continued.

 **'** **LIAR!'** a voice said in her head. She knows fairly well that the attack wasn't random. The attacker wanted to kill her, but she wouldn't tell that to Sasuke. He might get involved with whatever is happening to her.

 _'_ _And I have a feeling that whoever is behind this knows about my past'_ She needed to find out about her past, her dead parents and the reason for the attacks.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _6-year old Sakura opened her eyes to see white surrounding her. She got up from where she was lying._

 _A blonde woman in pigtails approached her bed, and checked her. She was in a hospital bed, she looked around for people that she may recognize but there were only the two of them inside the room._

 _"_ _Um, w-who a-are you?" Little Sakura asked. She was fiddling with her hospital gown._

 _"_ _I'm Doctor Tsunade, what do you feel Sakura?" Tsunade asked, she held a little bear that she gave Sakura to make her feel comfortable._

 _Sakura held onto the bear as she answered Tsunade's question. "I feel fine, what happened? Why am I here?"_

 _"_ _You don't remember?" Tsunade looked as Sakura rubbed her eyes, probably from tiredness before looking back at her._

 _"_ _I don't know? I don't remember anything." As Sakura said that someone entered the room and walked to Tsunade. Little Sakura could only remember the man asking her something before she closed her eyes and slept._

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

Sakura couldn't remember anything else that happened before that day, she was only told that her parents were dead, but she didn't know what the reason was. A week after her recovery, she moved to Konoha and lived with the Yamanakas. At the age of 12, Sakura moved out of the house and decided to live on her own, much to the Yamanakas disapproval. But they agreed after Sakura's persuasion, only if she works at the cafe so that they can still see her and they could help her in living expenses.

Sakura was made aware of Sasuke's presence when his cellphone rang. Sakura looked at Sasuke and was surprised to see him looking intently at her.

"Your phone's ringing." Sakura told him. Sasuke must have known already for he ignored his phone and just looked at Sakura.

"Um, is there something wrong?" Sakura asked again, uncomfortable at his silence.

"Move to the Uchiha Manor." Sakura raised an eyebrow at this, had she not seen the seriousness on his face, she would have laughed out loud.

"No." Sakura simply answered. She picked his empty glass and moved to the kitchen. He followed her.

"You're too stubborn, what if you get attacked again? Don't you care for yourself?" Sasuke was getting annoyed.

"Don't snap at me, and I do care for myself. I have been doing that since I lost my parents." Sakura replied quietly.

Sasuke went silent at this, he studied Sakura closely and he could see that she wanted him to just drop the topic. Sasuke sighed, held Sakura's shoulders and made her face him.

"I'm worried about you."

"I'll be fine, besides, you're always there even when I don't ask you to." Sakura said sincerely, she gave him a small smile.

Sasuke just looked at her. He wanted to protect her from everything that would harm her, but she refuses to be a damsel in distress that needs to be protected.

They were lost in each other's eyes when the doorbell rang. Sakura flinched, surprised at the interruption and was about to go answer the door when Sasuke's hand on her arm stopped her. She looked at him questioningly.

"I'll answer the door, wait here." Sasuke said before leaving her.

Sakura waited until Sasuke came back with a box of pizza in his hand.

"Dinner's here. Let's eat."

* * *

"Mom? I will move out of the house temporarily." Sasuke told his mother when he reached his house that night.

"Does it have anything to do with you calling the Yamanakas?" Uchiha Mikoto asked her youngest son.

"You'll see." Sasuke answered before kissing his mother good night.

* * *

"What exactly do you mean by Aunt firing me?" Sakura asked her friend Ino when she was told the next day that she no longer needs to go to the cafe. They were in the school cafeteria, at their usual spot. Sakura was already halfway through her lunch when Ino told her the news.

Ino looked at Sakura apologetically. "Well, I kinda told Mom that you looked really stressed out in school and I thought that you need a break."

"Pig!" Sakura whined. Tenten and Hinata were looking at their two friends argue.

"I was worried! Sorry Forehead, Mom said that we can support you without you working for us, like old times." Ino said cheerfully.

"What? No! I don't want to be a charity case again pig, I will earn every penny that I spend for myself, you don't need to do that again, please tell aunt." Sakura pleaded, clasping Ino's hand in hers.

"Okay, but Forehead, Mom refuses to let you work again, you know how stubborn Mom is, she's just like you, so I think she will help you even if you refuse." Ino explained.

"It's fine, I just need another job." Sakura told Ino before going back to her food.

A few tables away from them, a gorgeous dark haired boy was listening, he smirked before eating his lunch.

* * *

After school, Sakura passed the market and she tried to look for a job vacancy, but she saw none. She had been walking around the market for an hour before deciding to just go home and look the next day. She was already in her street when she saw the landlady of her house outside her apartment. She suddenly remembered that she hasn't paid the rent, because of the things that happened these past days.

She approached the woman, about to apologize when the woman spoke.

"Sakura, you only have this day before you move out of the place. Someone wants to rent the place and the person already paid for the whole year." With that, she left.

Sakura stood there, she couldn't speak. She was close to crying.

 _'_ _Why is this happening to me?'_

* * *

Sakura left her things at her apartment before leaving again. She needed a new job and a new place to stay. She noticed a poster at the gate of her apartment which she grabbed and read.

 _'Was that here a moment ago?'_

JOB HIRING

'Stay-in Maid'

Contact: XXX-XXXX

There was an address at the bottom of the page, Sakura almost jumped in joy when she realized that the place is only a few blocks away from where she is. She started walking until she reached the basketball court where Sasuke played a few days ago. She noticed a huge house at the end of the street. She admired the house and was ready to leave when she realized that it was the house that she was looking for.

The gate was already open so she went to the door to press the doorbell. She only waited for a few minutes before the door opened and an old man dressed in black faced her.

"He's waiting for you, come in." The man told her. Sakura was confused, _'waiting for her?'_ she walked inside the house and into the dimly lit hallway. The door closed behind her and it was too late for Sakura to run away when she felt fear envelop her system. She was in a house with people who she doesn't know, after what happened to her these past few days, she wouldn't be surprised when someone jumps in front of her and try to kill her.

The man behind her guided her at the end of the hallway and ushered her in to what looks like a living room. The man left and she was alone, she looked around, looking for an escape route when the door behind her opened again.

She looked at the person who just came in and she felt her blood freeze at the sight.

"Hello, Sakura."


	14. The Boss

**CHAPTER 12**

Sasuke smirked at Sakura's reaction. She was frozen on the spot. He wanted to laugh at her reaction but he controlled himself. He took out his phone and called the people he asked to pack Sakura's belongings.

"Are you finished?" He asked the person on the other line.

"Yes, Uchiha-sama." The person answered.

"Get back here now." He ended the call and sat at the long sofa and turned the television on. Sakura was still standing, looking at him.

"From now on, you will be my personal maid, you do _everything_ that I ask you to do." Sasuke said when Sakura refused to talk. This seem to have woken Sakura up, because she stormed in front of him, blocking his view of the TV.

"I can't work here! I refuse to take the job! I'm leaving!" Sakura shouted at him, she was about to leave when Sasuke spoke again.

"If you do that, the Yamanakas will insist on paying for your living. I doubt that you'd want that. You see, the only reason the Yamanakas will allow you to refuse their help is if you work for me. They saw sense when I offered to give you a job where you will be safe and protected and under my care. I don't want to picture how Mrs. Yamanaka will be devastated when I tell her that you refuse to work for me. She will be greatly worried." Sasuke said, which made Sakura think of Ino's mother who became a second mother to her. She felt guilty after what Sasuke said.

Sakura slowly looked at him and studied him, her glare still in place.

"You're not planning anything, are you?" Sakura asked carefully. She slowly moved out of the way and sat beside him, maintaining distance.

"How could you think of me that way?" Sasuke asked, still smirking. He clearly enjoyed her annoyance. Sakura pondered for a moment, she was thinking about the pros and cons about living with Sasuke. Sasuke stayed silent, watching her. Upon reaching a decision, she looked at him straight in the eye and said,

"If I were to work for you, I have a few conditions. I will do what you ask, but only the things that are not concerned with you sexually harassing me, or anything closely related to that! And don't give me that look! You know it's possible!" Sakura said when Sasuke looked as if he wanted to go against what she just said.

"I also get free days at least once a week, I need time away from you seeing as I will also be staying here." Sakura continued. Sasuke glared at her at that. He didn't want her out of his sight, but she doesn't know that.

"When I'm working, I want you to stay away from me. I won't be able to get the job done if you're constantly bugging me." She paused for a moment to think before continuing.

"I will only be your personal maid here, in school we're equal." Sakura stated.

"We're not, I'm the King of the school, you're a nobody." Sasuke said to annoy her. Sakura rolled her eyes at that.

"So arrogant, and my last condition..."

"There's more?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. He looked strangely at Sakura as she grabbed a paper and wrote something on it.

"I can add any condition that I want for as long as I am working here! Do we have a deal?" She asked Sasuke, who just raised an eyebrow at her, he nodded his head and was about to leave when she grabbed his hand. He looked at her, surprised that she initiated the contact but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the paper she was writing on, when she finished she handed him the paper which he just looked at.

"Sign it, it's a contact." Sakura explained, still not letting his arm go.

Sasuke looked at her then at the paper, he saw his name at the bottom and signed quickly before returning it to her. She then let go of his arm and took the contract to read its content again.

"I'll show you to your room." Sasuke quietly said as he left the room with Sakura following after.

"So, where am I staying? At the basement? It's completely fine by me, and, can I start working tomorrow? I've been under a lot of stress today, and I don't think that I can work efficiently today. Hey, where are we going?" Sakura asked when he took the stairs to the second floor. He ignored her, so she quietly went after him.

There were plenty of rooms, that was what Sakura noticed when she reached Sasuke's side again.

"That's the library, and the room at the end of the hall is the bathroom. The room next to the library is a guest room." Sasuke continued, he turned right at the corner, Sakura still following close.

Sasuke stopped in front of a door.

"This is my room, your room is across mine." He said as he opened the door to Sakura's room. He stepped aside to let her enter.

Sakura stepped inside the room, and she was awed at what she saw. It was a huge room, a room not fit for a "personal maid". What surprised her are her bags and a few appliance that she owns which she left at the apartment are there too. At the bedside table were pictures of her and her friends.

"What's this? Why am I staying here?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"You are my personal maid, you need to be as close to me as possible."

"I can't stay here, it's to grand for me."

"I'm your employer, you do anything I say which is not closely related to sexual harassment. That is written in the contract. Does this set up harass you in any way?" Sasuke asked, smirking at her.

"No, but-"

"Enough, it's almost dinner. Fix your things and join me downstairs." With that, Sasuke left and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Sakura went downstairs after fixing her things, she didn't know where Sasuke was so she just followed the sound of someone cooking. She made a few turn and reached the kitchen where she saw Sasuke who just finished preparing dinner.

"Just in time, why don't you settle on that chair." Sakura did as she was told and she watched Sasuke walk around the kitchen.

Sasuke placed two plates on the small table where Sakura was leaning and grabbed the food that he prepared. They started eating quietly, with Sakura stealing glances at Sasuke, which Sasuke ignored.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"You obviously don't need a personal maid, so, why did you hire me?" Sakura asked him.

"Hey" Sakura said again when he did not answer.

"I'm your employer, you don't ask me things like that." Sasuke said obnoxiously. Sakura gave him an irritated huff before continuing her dinner.

* * *

"She's being watched closely, sir."

"I figured, after your failed attempts, she will surely get plenty of attention from the police."

"What should we do next, sir?"

"Give her time to breathe, when the police are no longer watching her, we attack."

"Okay, sir."


End file.
